Getting to Know You
by DietCokeIsLife
Summary: Morro-centric oneshot series! Takes place after Broken Circle, but can be read as an AU where Morro is human again and has been forgiven by the ninja! Each oneshot will focus on a headcanon about Morro, and I am taking suggestions! Latest chapter: Morro is a grinch, and Zane decides to organize the Best Christmas Ever. Holiday chapter, and Morro and Zane bonding!
1. Priceless

**Hello, everyone! I'm back with my promised Morro-centric oneshot series!**

 **So, for those of you who have read Lost Soul and Broken Circle, these oneshots take place shortly after Broken Circle ended. (Also, the sequel is coming along nicely! :D)**

 **For those of you who HAVEN'T read Lost Soul and Broken Circle, this is more or less an AU where Morro has become human again after Day of the Departed and been forgiven by the ninja. While it isn't *strictly* necessary to read those beforehand, I would recommend them! :D**

 **The format of this series is that each oneshot will focus on a different headcanon about Morro!**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro likes taking trinkets he finds lying around the Bounty.**

* * *

"Cole, I'm telling you, I've lost my marbles!"

"Jay, everyone knew you lost your marbles a long time ago," Cole responded, laughing as they passed into the kitchen.

Jay huffed, unamused. "Not like _that_! I lost a _literal_ bag of marbles!"

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Cole asked, digging in the fridge for something to please his insatiable appetite. "I didn't take them."

"Do you know who did?" Jay demanded, poking Cole accusingly in the back. "Are you guys in cahoots?"

Cole half-turned to glare over his shoulder at Jay. "No, because I really don't care about your marbles, Jay, and I doubt anybody else does either. You probably just misplaced them like the scatterbrain you are."

"Hmph!" Jay turned on his heel. "Well, we'll see who's laughing once I catch the culprit!"

"Good luck with that."

* * *

Jay had then interrogated both Kai and Lloyd, the two most likely suspects to have stolen his marbles aside from Cole, and both of them _claimed_ to have no knowledge of the pilfered marbles. So, even though he would never admit it to Cole's face, he was starting to think his brother was right; he had been known to lose things, and the marbles would probably turn up of their own accord within the next couple of days.

Jay was lounging on his bed, sketching out some preliminary designs for a new invention- when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" He called, looking up to see Morro standing in the doorway.

It was still more than a little weird to see Morro on the Destiny's Bounty like it was no big deal. He'd only become a human again a few weeks ago, and Jay was still trying not to act surprised whenever Morro entered a room.

Of course, he couldn't help the way his eyebrows shot up when Morro held up a small, black drawstring bag. A very _familiar_ black drawstring bag.

"I, uh, heard you were looking for these," Morro offered, stepping further into the room and holding the bag out to Jay.

"My marbles!" Jay exclaimed, accepting the bag from Morro and revelling in the sound of so many marbles clacking against each other. "Where did you find them?"

Morro turned away, shrugging. Flippantly, he said, "Well, you left them sitting on the couch, so I just thought you didn't want them anymore. I didn't know."

Jay furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out why Morro sounded so defensive- when he realized that someone _had_ taken his marbles. Just, not in the malicious way he had thought. Morro had taken them not to mess with Jay or pull a prank on him or something, but because he had actually _wanted_ them.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Jay said, waving his hand to will the problem away. And, really, it wasn't. Jay had been more upset by the principle of one of his brothers stealing his marbles if only to make the joke Cole had made earlier, rather than the absence of the marbles themselves.

Looking down at the bag in his hand, he held it out to Morro again. "You know, you can have them if you want. I have a whole tub of them at home."

Morro blinked, shocked by Jay's offer. He looked down at the bag again…

Then, shook his head. "No, they're yours. It's just a dumb toy anyway."

And, with that, he turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

"Kai, you shouldn't go into Morro's room without his permission!" Nya hissed, glancing over her shoulder as if afraid of getting caught during a stealth mission.

"I just need to borrow a pen," Kai pointed out with an eye roll. "I'm not going to wait for him to get home to ask if I can borrow a pen. He'll never know I was in here."

Morro's room was absolutely immaculate. He seemed to take great pride in keeping his space tidy, and nothing seemed to ever be out of place. Kai was convinced that Morro must sleep somewhere else since his bed was always tucked in so tightly.

As such, the top of the desk was empty. Kai pulled open the desk drawer-

He jumped. "Woah."

Nya, curiosity overriding the respect for other people's privacy, shuffled farther into the room and peered into the desk drawer as well.

A handful of baubles, trinkets, and toys occupied the desk drawer.

"Hey, I remember this!" Nya exclaimed, selecting a keychain with a heart on it. "It used to be on my keys before it broke off. I guess Morro found it."

"And, I'm pretty sure this is the button that popped off of Zane's jacket," Kai said, pointing at a silvery gray button sitting harmlessly on the bottom of the drawer. "Morro's been picking this stuff up?"

"Should we tell the others?" Nya asked. "I mean, this stuff is mostly garbage. I doubt they'll care, but it did belong to them at one point."

Kai pondered this a moment before nodding. "We might as well."

* * *

"Oh, I think this is a bracelet a fan made for me," Lloyd volunteered, picking up a very simplistic bracelet made of yarn with several green beads strung along it. "But, Morro can have it. I have a ton."

"And, I pick up cool looking pebbles all the time," Cole said, setting down the rock he had recognized in the drawer once again. This particular pebble was a dull brown color and remarkable only for its almost unnatural smoothness. "I'm actually glad someone else appreciates them."

"I agree that Morro has taken nothing of value from us," Zane said to the group as a whole. The six of them were gathered near the entryway of the bedroom. They were careful not to touch anything but the drawer, since Morro would surely notice something had been disturbed in his pristine domain. "But, is this cause for concern? Perhaps we should ask him about this collection and discover his attachment to these things."

"What are all of you doing gathered in Morro's room?"

The six of them jumped and turned to see Master Wu looking at them curiously from the hallway.

"Need I remind you that rifling through someone's drawers without permission is an invasion of privacy?" Wu asked rhetorically, levelling a critical gaze at them.

"We know, Sensei, but all of this stuff _was_ ours at one point," Kai defended, gesturing to the drawer. Wu, also a slave to the mistress known as curiosity, peered into the drawer as well. "Morro's been collecting these little trinkets. We just wanted to make sure he hadn't taken anything anyone would miss."

Wu sighed, a fond smile touching his lips for a moment. "Old habits die hard." He turned to the group as a whole. "After Morro first became my student, he did the same thing. He would take things I didn't care for whatsoever- the handle of a broken teacup, the frayed sash of some retired robe, a ring that the jewel had fallen out of long ago he found in the courtyard- and keep them in a box under his bed.

"I stumbled upon the collection- I forget what I was looking for now- and he caught me looking at it. He immediately gave me the box and insisted that he hadn't been trying to steal anything. I told him it was alright, that he could have everything in the box, but he wouldn't take it back. He was ashamed; he refused to look me in the eye for several days afterward, and he never started another collection, at least to my knowledge."

"That's what happened when he took my marbles!" Jay exclaimed. "I tried to give them back to him, and he wouldn't take them."

"Morro despises charity," Wu sighed, fixing each of his students with a solemn look. "So, if no real harm is being done, I ask that you don't confront Morro. He still feels out of place here, which may be the reason he is taking these baubles, and embarrassing him would only exacerbate the problem."

The ninja shared a look.

Kai shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. He can have all this stuff as far as I'm concerned."

The others voiced their agreements.

* * *

Morro never ventured into their rooms, only taking trinkets that the other ninja had dropped or left sitting out in the common areas. The ninja truly had no problem with the collection, since Morro only seemed to take things people had already forgotten about, treasuring the things that had been left behind and giving them a new home in his desk drawer.

The ninja were spread around the living room, bored, and so Zane had folded an origami fortune teller, one that could be manipulated by one's hands opening and closing it in different ways before finally revealing an all but irrelevant prediction. It had entertained the others for all of five minutes, though Morro had never seen one before and asked for his fortune to be told twice, seemingly delighted when he got a different prediction the second time.

It having served its purpose, Zane took it to throw in the garbage can…

Then, hesitated. He glanced furtively at Morro and remembered his awe with the little paper toy. Though Zane had not had a traditional childhood, he had been provided with everything he could possibly need, the most of which was the love of a parent and the least of which was little toys that had fascinated him at first, just as they fascinated Morro. It saddened him that Morro had lacked all of that, and suddenly understood his attachment to the things the others considered garbage.

Hoping he wasn't being terribly conspicuous, Zane tossed the fortune teller onto the coffee table, as if leaving it there until he remembered to throw it away later.

Sure enough, the next morning, the fortune teller had disappeared.

* * *

A few days later, Nya had been talking animatedly with Jay- and bumped into a door frame. After enduring much teasing for being the clumsy one in the relationship when that was clearly Jay's job, Nya noticed the real casualty of the exchange. The clasp on her bracelet had snapped upon impact and fell to the floor.

She picked it up, heading to the kitchen to throw it away with Jay accompanying her-

But, she slowed down when she passed Morro's bedroom.

She studied the bracelet as they continued to the kitchen. It was cheap, which explained why the clasp had broken so easily. It was lined with red rhinestones. Anybody could tell it wasn't worth much, but it was still pretty, which was the only reason she had bought it in the first place.

She wondered if Morro would like it…

When they entered the kitchen, instead of tossing the broken bracelet into the garbage can, she left it on the counter right next to the garbage can. She and Jay shared a look, but didn't say a word about it.

The next morning, they were both eager to get to the kitchen to see if the bracelet was gone. They grinned at each other like idiots when they saw that it was.

* * *

They didn't know the exact moment that it became a sort of game, but soon enough all of them found themselves showing pretty little trinkets off to each other and saying, "look, Morro would _love_ this…"

Like any game, there were rules. The object couldn't look too valuable, or else Morro wouldn't take it. They had to wait at least three days from the last time someone had left a bauble for him so Morro wouldn't get suspicious, and it couldn't be left in the same place twice in a row.

But, the best part of the game was the _prize._ Using all the ninja stealth at their disposal, they sometimes would try to watch Morro find the object from a hidden doorway, though they had to, of course, make sure he never knew they were there.

Kai and Lloyd were in the kitchen pretending to chat when they were really peering through the open doorway at Morro picking up the salmon colored shell they'd found on the beach. He turned the shell over and over again in his hands before finally holding it up to his ear- and grinning when he did, in fact, hear the ocean.

And, like all games, the ninja quickly became competitive. Jay even went so far as to invent something for Morro: a little wind up toy fashioned like a blue frog. When wound up, it would hop a few inches forward, and Morro was so enraptured by the little toy jumping along the floor of the living room, he didn't even notice Jay watching him from the mouth of the hallway.

Of course, Cole had barged in and almost ruined it- but Morro had closed his fist around the toy to hide it and held it close to his chest and _that_ was how Jay knew he loved it.

And then Lloyd came up behind Jay with a watch that had a broken face… only to see Jay lurking in the doorway to the living room and Morro just beyond that. Jay flashed him a triumphant smirk, and Lloyd huffed frustratedly, knowing he now had to wait several days until he could leave the watch for Morro.

* * *

Morro opened the door to his bedroom and flipped on the light.

There was a box sitting on his bed.

Raising an eyebrow, Morro warily approached the box, peering inside-

He gasped, using both hands to reverently remove the broken teacup handle from the box. Holding it in one hand, he reached into the box to pull out the sash, the ring missing its jewel, a bell that didn't make a sound anymore…

"Do you remember them?"

Morro looked up to see Master Wu standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

"Yeah, of course I remember them!" Morro exclaimed, digging through the box and seeing that each and every one of the treasures he had collected as a child was still there. "But, I mean- you kept them?"

"Of course," Wu replied, nodding. "I was always hoping I could give them back to you. But… after you left, I moved most of your things to a storage facility in the village. The memories were… well, it was easier to move the boxes rather than to see them every day."

Morro nodded slowly, eyes dropping to the box sitting on his bed once again. He was still embarrassed, of course, just like he was that day he had found Wu with this very box of possessions.

Morro couldn't say why, exactly, he liked to take these things. He knew they were worthless, and he knew a teenage guy like himself shouldn't have been so enchanted by little wind up toys and broken bracelets.

But… after going so many years without a penny to his name, not owning even the clothes on his back because he'd stolen them off clotheslines… the little trinkets were priceless, even if only because they were _his_. Besides, something seemed _right_ about taking things people didn't want anymore and simply _wanting_ them just a little bit longer…

He clutched either side of the box. It had been long enough, he supposed.

"Thanks," Morro told Wu, who was still smiling at him from the doorway. Honestly, the box was a miracle. He had been finding so many cool, little baubles that his desk drawer was nearly overflowing; certainly too full to fit actual office supplies in it. He could transfer his present collection to his past one and-

Morro stiffened.

All of the toys he'd started finding. Wu "happening" to give him back his old collection _now_. Either the ninja had all conveniently beginning to get forgetful at the same time or…

Morro blushed, feeling like the butt of a joke everyone had been in on except him. "These… things I keep finding. It's not a coincidence, is it."

Wu didn't respond right away but shuffled further into Morro's room, laying a hand on his student's shoulder. "Things are not made worthless when they are given freely. It is the act of being given that makes them priceless."

With that piece of advice, he patted Morro's shoulder and exited the room.

Morro was mortified. No matter how prettily Wu wanted to wrap it, he had all but admitted that _everyone_ had known about his little habit. He could just imagine them sitting around, laughing their heads off as they watched poor, little Morro pick up _trash_ , stashing it in his room like a hoarder, thinking he was being sneaky when really he had been the one getting _duped_ …

He stomped over to his desk, yanking open the drawer and almost ripping it out of the desk altogether. He went to smash-

His fist stopped an inch away from destroying the trinkets.

Carefully, he picked up the wind up frog, the broken bracelet, the sea shell. He was getting better at guessing who left what. The bracelet was Nya's, obviously, and he had known that Lloyd and Kai had gone down to the beach the day before he had found the shell. The frog had been a little tougher; in the end, though, its blue color gave it away, and he knew that it must have been Jay's.

" _Things are not made worthless when they are given freely. It is the act of being given that makes them priceless."_

Maybe… maybe the ninja _hadn't_ been trying to play a joke on him. Maybe these things weren't trash to the ninja, just like they weren't trash to him. Maybe they really and truly were gifts, and that made them worth something to both of them.

This theory was simultaneously the most far-fetched and most believable one. It was weird to think the ninja had been… leaving gifts for him to find. He supposed it wasn't necessarily a _bad_ feeling, but as someone who had received very few gifts in his life, it was definitely a weird one.

Still not fully convinced he _should_ , he began transferring the contents of his desk drawer to the box from his childhood, being extra careful with the breakable things. Once he was done, part of him felt giddy at the sight of all of his treasures together in one place, while another part of him was still angry.

For now, he shoved the box under his bed, needing to get it out of his sight for now while he decided what to do.

* * *

It was the next day when Morro wandered into the kitchen that had happened to be empty… and spotted a cool rock sitting on the kitchen table. It was a burnt red color with dark stripes, almost reminiscent of a tiger. Rocks were definitely Cole's M.O., and now that Morro was aware of the true nature of the exchange, he could feel eyes on his back. Had they been watching him all along? He was a truly terrible ninja if little gadgets distracted him from sensing someone's presence nearby.

Now, Morro had a choice. He could whip around, catch Cole and whoever else was waiting to see his reaction in the act of spying, and confront them for more or less tricking him. He could make it well known to the whole Destiny's Bounty that he did not appreciate them enabling his little habit…, and never receive another trinket again. And make the others feel bad for, if he was right in his theory, trying to do something nice for him. Trying to make him happy. Making him a part of their family even if he had had no idea.

Glancing about, as if hoping not to get caught even though he knew very well that he was being watched, he reached forward and grabbed the rock, hefting in his hand and admiring it from all angles. That part wasn't hard, at least. It _was_ a pretty cool rock, and distantly, he wondered if Cole had gone out of his way to find such unique and, well, _beautiful_ rocks to give him.

Glancing about him one last time, he slipped the rock into his pocket.

Morro supposed continuing to accept the ninja's gifts wouldn't be _terrible_ , as long as they didn't know that he knew they knew.

 _Ugh_ , living with the ninja was so confusing and different and _weird_ …

He ran his thumb over the rock in his pocket.

But, nice. It was confusing and different and weird, but nice.

Not that he'd ever admit that in a million years, but still.

* * *

 **Now, most of the oneshots in this series probably won't be *quite* as long as this monster XD Some oneshots will also focus on Morro's relationship with a specific ninja or Wu, but I thought the first one deserved to feature all of them :3**

 **I am taking requests! As long as your requests don't blatantly contradict a headcanon that's already been written, I would love to write them up! :D**

 **Now, unlike my other stories, updates for this story will NOT be regular! There is no schedule for this story, and oneshots will be written as inspiration sees fit :D**

 **I really hope you guys liked it! :D I had a ton of fun writing it, and I hope to update again soon! :D**


	2. Solve

**Hello, everybody! I was ECSTATIC to see what a positive response this story got! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read! This chapter is a bit of a different flavor from the first one, and only about half as long, but I still like how it came out! I hope you guys like it too! :D**

 **Special thanks to: ABCSKW123-IX, RandomDragon2.0, FateWriterHawk, happylittlesharkie, WindNinja333, Katla1, GwenBrightly, KyraPlays, Peanut2196, A Huge Fangirl, MightyShipper, TheYellowNinja, Star, Guest, Inimidesert, LeUltimateNerd, Cerenda, and Plumcicle for reviewing! I love you all! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **MightyShipper: Aw, I'm so glad you liked it so much! I loved writing it! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **TheYellowNinja: It makes me so happy to know you're excited for my updates! :3 I'm so glad you thought the ninja's reaction to Morro's habit was in character! :D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Star: Haha, I'm so happy to know you thought it was cute, since I thought it was adorable when I thought of it! :D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Guest: "Inspiring?!" Oh, you are WAY too kind! :D I'm so glad you liked Morro's habit! :3 Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Plumcicle: Aw, what a cute idea! I will definitely add that to the list! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro is a neatfreak/germaphobe. Shout out to A Huge Fangirl who requested a bonding chapter between Morro and Nya! Thank you so much for the suggestion! :D**

* * *

Nya was very fond of solving things.

When they were children, Kai had snapped at her on numerous occasions for responding to every one of his statements with "Why?" (Usually because he didn't _know_ why; in those cases, Nya would rush down to the library as soon as possible and look up the answer herself.) It was part of the reason she enjoyed mechanics and robotics so much. If there was a problem, there had to be a solution, and if one didn't exist already, then she could _invent_ one. Nothing could be even marginally as rewarding as solving a problem.

Which is what made the puzzle that was Morro all the more frustrating.

No matter how hard she tried, Nya couldn't seem to _solve_ him. It was as if he was simultaneously two different people at once: both the oldest brother and youngest brother on the team.

At times, Morro seemed very wise and much more experienced than any of the other six ninja. One day, Wu suggested that Morro take over the teaching for the day, explaining that the subject was grappling holds, which would be easier having someone with "young bones" to demonstrate. Seeing as Morro had already mastered this area of expertise, he was more than happy to comply.

He did seem a _little_ too excited about putting each of the ninja in a chokehold, though.

"There's just something so much more gratifying about submitting your opponent instead of simply beating him to death," Morro commented wistfully with trademark evil grin reminiscent of his villain, ghost self rather than his reformed, human one (which was even more disturbing considering they couldn't tell if he was joking or not.) "Especially a chokehold. You can feel their heartbeat slowing down. Really puts things into perspective."

Needless to say, Nya had been a tad nervous when she had stepped in front of Morro to allow herself to be placed in the submission hold. She felt his muscular arm loop around her neck and tighten as he grabbed his other hand for leverage. Though the hold was not tight enough to cut off her oxygen supply, the pulse in her neck beat against his inner elbow, just like he said it would.

Then she heard his voice murmur in her ear.

"Now, your first priority is your airway. Pull on my arm, tuck your chin- yeah, just like that. If you can breathe, you can fight. Now, wrap your ankle around my ankle and-"

Morro was cut off as Nya successfully yanked on his arm and tripped him over her own foot, throwing him to the ground flat on his back.

His expression as he smiled up at her was the epitome of a proud older brother as he remarked, "And, with the fastest time yet. I'm almost impressed."

Other times, though, Morro was so naive, he was almost childlike, and it was hard for Nya not to let her motherly/big sister instincts kick in, since she knew he would only resent that.

For example, she was on her way to the laundry room with a basket of dirty clothes when Morro, who had been listening to Jay and Cole debate over some stupid topic, noticed her.

Genuinely confused, he had asked, "Where's your washboard?"

Jay and Cole had absolutely dissolved in laughter, consequently forgetting whatever they had been arguing about as they began making "old man jokes" at Morro's expense.

Nya, trying not to laugh as well, beckoned Morro to follow her (which he might have only agreed to to get away from the others' teasing.)

He seemed wary of the washing machine, a huge, metal block with no immediately apparent purpose. After Nya had poured her clothes and soap in, she started it. It came to life with a shuddering roar-

Morro yelped, jumping backward into somewhat of a fighting stance, and this time Nya couldn't stop herself from laughing. After she coaxed him into coming closer and explained what the washing machine was, Morro had become enamored with watching the clothes swirl around the soapy water in the belly of the "beast." The roar became a comforting hum, and Morro was content to sit cross legged on the floor, watching the clothes churn inside the washing machine.

In Nya's mind, it was like taking a particularly rowdy child and plopping him in front of the television, mesmerizing him into finally being calm.

* * *

Another day, Nya had come rushing out of her room after locking herself inside to work on a new invention. She barged into the common room, expecting to see all the other ninja inside… only to see Morro by himself, staring out the window where it was currently pouring rain with a sullen expression.

"Hey, Morro," she greeted, trying not to come off as disappointed. "Where is everybody?"

"Outside," he answered in a disapproving tone. "Playing King of the Hill or mud wrestling or something else stupid."

Nya joined him by the window just in time to see Lloyd tackle Zane, sending both of them rocketing to the ground and splashing the nearby ninja with mud.

And, Nya thought she had solved it. Morro was definitely the older brother because he thought himself too mature for the others' childish games, or maybe was afraid of looking ridiculous if he joined in.

But, just at that moment, the door burst open. After Nya snapped at them to take off their shoes before traipsing into the Destiny's Bounty, the five ninja, absolutely coated from head to toe in mud, gathered in the common room. In all the bustling, Jay bumped into Morro, leaving a smear of mud on the wind master's forearm.

Morro grimaced. He tried to discreetly wipe the mud on his pants, but Nya noticed anyway.

 _Oh_ , she thought, disappointed that she had not, in fact, figured Morro out. _It's not that he doesn't like to play. He doesn't like to get_ dirty _._

Which, in retrospect, seemed to be a trait more of a fussy, younger brother rather than a mature, older brother.

Unfortunately for Morro, the others noticed his disgust too.

"Aw, what's wrong, Morro?" Kai asked teasingly. "Do you think we have _cooties_?"

"No," the former ghost replied irritably, though he couldn't stop himself from taking a step back when Kai drifted closer.

The other ninja caught on quickly enough. Zane closed in on Morro from behind, and Lloyd blocked his exit down the hallway. Jay and Kai corralled him toward Cole, who managed to snag Morro in a gigantic bear hug, lifting him a few inches off the ground so he couldn't escape.

" _Ew_!" Morro whined, leaning away from the mud-encrusted Cole and kicking his legs back and forth to aid his getaway. "Let _go_ of me!"

"C'mon, Morro!" Cole encouraged as the others laughed. "It's exposure therapy!"

"It's _gross_!"

Yep, Nya decided. Definitely the younger brother.

* * *

Speaking of cleanliness, this seemed to be an issue with which Morro was particularly concerned. Not that he patrolled the Destiny's Bounty with spray bottle in hand, but his own room was absolutely spotless, his clothes always fresh and clean even if he wore them with a certain carelessness that suggested the opposite.

It quickly became a point of interest for the other ninja when they found that Morro made his bed in the morning.

Every. Single. Day.

On the way to breakfast, he could be found in his room, tucking the bed in so tightly that it would take a crowbar to untuck it. When a comment was made in passing at the breakfast table before Morro arrived, Wu had immediately straightened and hurried to his first student's room to see for himself.

Chuckling, he asked, "Another leftover habit?"

Morro looked back at him in confusion before looking down at the sheet he was currently smoothing out, as if only now becoming aware of what he was doing. Laughing, he replied that, yes, Wu had taught him to make his bed every day he was at the monastery and he had made his bed every day he was away from it.

And, it was things like this, watching Morro share memories and funny little conversations with Wu that reminded Nya so totally of the oldest brother having inside jokes with a parent from before the younger siblings were old enough to join in on the fun.

Thus, Morro was solved.

* * *

That is, until Nya heard a high-pitched scream.

Rushing into the kitchen, she saw Morro standing on a chair, staring at the pantry with eyes wide with horror.

"What is it?" Nya asked, searching for the threat.

Morro pointed at the pantry. " _Rat_!"

Nya wasted little time after that. She searched for and located a cardboard box, then, bending down slightly, she saw a cereal box on the ground that had been chewed through, stray flakes scattered along the floor… but no rat.

"Where?" She asked Morro, who had yet to get down from his perch and seemed to be shaking slightly.

"It's inside the box! Now, get it out! _Please_!"

Oddly enough, the "please" was what broadcasted the true urgency of the situation to Nya. When Morro said "please," he _meant_ it.

Picking up the cereal box, which was certainly too heavy to have only cereal in it, she peered inside and saw two beady eyes staring back at her.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," she told the rat, placing the entire cereal box in the cardboard box and quickly sealing it up. She poked a few miniscule air holes in the top, satisfied that the rat would be happy with his supply of food and air until she could release it. "You're going to be okay."

"You're not going to kill it?" Morro asked incredulously, still refusing to get off the chair even though the threat was neutralized.

"No. He doesn't mean to hurt anybody," she replied, approaching Morro with box in hand.

Even though he was standing on a chair, he tried to back up- which immediately made the chair wobble and Nya worry for Morro's safety.

"Don't come any closer to me with that thing!" He snapped, pointing accusingly at the box.

Nya looked down at the box curiously before obediently setting it on the floor and then coming closer to Morro. It wasn't that she _liked_ rats. She supposed that after spending so much time in places rats frequented like garages and auto shops- and leaky old boats- she was used to them.

To Morro, she said, "You can get down now, Morro. It's okay."

The former ghost, still eyeing the box warily, carefully stepped off the chair and sat down in it instead. Nya placed a hand on his shoulder- and felt the shudders racking his body.

"Are you alright, Morro?"

"They're disgusting," he said by way of explanation, shaking his head. "Do you know how many diseases they carry? I'm throwing out all the food in there. Ugh, what if there's _more?"_

Nya patted his shoulder sympathetically even as she continued to try to solve Morro as was her original goal. "I really don't mean any offense by this, Morro, but I thought you might have been… used to rats? I mean, living on the street-"

"When you hear them skittering around everywhere you go and you see them eating a half-rotted corpse and you wake up with them crawling all over you?" Morro finished, dropping his head in his hands and taking deep breath after deep breath to compose himself. "No. You don't get used to them."

Nya gaped, her heart breaking as she listened to Morro's- well, _traumatic-_ experience. No wonder Morro was so preoccupied with being clean.

Nya had always condemned those for taking for granted what others didn't have, especially parents. Having a surly father or overbearing mother was better than not having either.

And yet, Nya had taken advantage of the fact that she had had the simple right to a home and to be _clean,_ things Morro had never had.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and squeezed.

"Don't worry," she told him. "As soon as I get rid of this little guy, I'm going to go through and rat proof the whole ship. You'll never see another rat again."

And, he wouldn't, if Nya had anything to say about it. Just like when Morro said please, when Nya made a promise, she meant it.

He looked up at her, offering a small smile as if he couldn't quite believe she had made such a vow. "...thanks."

Nya patted his shoulder one last time before walking back over to where she left the rat in the box. As she picked it up and headed for the door, Morro called after her.

"Nya?"

"Yeah?" She asked, turning to look at him over her shoulder.

"Maybe you could… _not_ mention this to the others?"

Nya looked back at Morro, who was not quite meeting her eyes.

And she realized that she had spent too much time trying to _solve_ Morro, when he didn't really need to be solved. It didn't matter if Morro was the oldest brother or the youngest brother- it only mattered that Morro was _her_ brother, and she was going to take care of him as such.

She held up a thumbs up and smiled at him.

"Our little secret."

* * *

 **I hope you guys liked it, even though the style was a bit different from the first one! I feel like Nya and Zane are the ninja I struggle the most with writing, so I hope I did her justice!**

 **I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but please feel free leave your requests/suggestions! They inspire me so much, and I will give shout outs to those whose ideas I use!**

 **Thanks for reading! :D**


	3. Unspoken

**Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? I *am* happy to announce that the delay was because I was pouring most of my efforts into the Broken Circle sequel!**

 **But, in the meantime, here is a oneshot! I know, I know, this isn't *strictly* a headcanon "about" Morro, per se, but I loved it too much to pass up, and I think it fits well enough! :D**

 **Special thanks to: MightyShipper, WindNinja333, KyraPlays, peaches n plasma creme, Cerenda, DarkRed101, Katla1, Peanut2196, RandomDragon2.0, ABCSKW123-IX, Ms. Cipher16, NinjagoGeek4EVER, Inimidesert, Tails FT Foxy, Plumcicle, Guest, TheYellowNinja, Star, Fxreflies, DannyPhantomPhandom, ardhoniel . LotRStarWarsNinjago, A Huge Fangirl, and RiderOfNight for reviewing! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **MightyShipper: Yay, I'm so glad you're out of school now! That stinks that you were in so late! There's no problem with your reviews, I love them! Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Plumcicle: Ooh, that is an AWESOME headcanon (and TOTALLY something Morro would do XD) Thank you so much for the suggestion and for reviewing! :D**

 **Guest: Nya IS a sweetie :3 Don't worry, there is definitely a Morro and Lloyd oneshot coming up, and your suggestion has given me a GREAT idea! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **TheYellowNinja: I'm glad you agree that Nya would over analyze ever single little detail XD I'm glad you both loved the origin of Morro's habit and his bonding with Nya! And, I love your headcanon about him loving sweets! Thank you so much for the suggestion and for reviewing! :D**

 **Star: It's definitely sad, but I'm glad you loved the chapter! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Fxreflies: Ooh, I LOVE that idea, and I'm *pretty* sure that will be an upcoming chapter, so keep your eye out for it! ;D YES! A fluffy family slowly meshing together is EXACTLY what I was going for! AND, you think I wrote Nya well?! Thank you SO MUCH for reviewing and for your suggestion! :D**

 **RiderOfNight: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Five Times series! Unfortunately, I'm pouring most of my efforts into the Broken Circle sequel at the moment, but I will definitely come back to those eventually! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Wu checks on Morro at night to make sure he's okay. Shout out to Inimidesert for suggesting this headcanon! Thank you so much! :D**

* * *

Was Wu happy Morro was back?

Well, of course he was happy; that wasn't even a question. Especially since, now, Morro resembled that pitifully skinny eight year old that was so eager to please, so shy and, if not overly affectionate, very sweet in his own way, more than he did the angry teenager that had stormed out of the monastery so many years ago.

Every time he looked at Morro, it was as if he had double vision. He was looking at a mature young man… and also a child that, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes, wandered into the kitchen and shared a cup of tea with him before morning training began. He cared for all of his ninja equally, but he couldn't deny that he had _raised_ Morro, at least partially, and so there was a certain pride there that here, now, after _everything_ , Morro had grown into the person Wu had always wanted him to be.

So, yes, Wu was happy.

But, he was also terrified.

As Wu watched the ceiling in bed in the middle of the night, wide awake and sure he wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon, he couldn't stop thinking about it. What if one day… he woke up to find Morro was gone? What if he rushed outside only to see Morro, a packed bag on his back, walking determinedly out of the monastery doors? What if he called after his student, only for Morro to barely look at him (and though Morro was angry, it was hurt- _betrayal_ , really- that stopped him from meeting Wu's eyes) and coldly state that he would prove he was the Green Ninja if it was the last thing he did?

What if he was already gone?

Almost without realizing it, Wu was standing up out of bed. Yes, he was a wise, old master, and yes, he knew it was irrational to think Morro would storm off in the middle of the night when he seemed perfectly happy here, but Wu couldn't help the way his heart was speeding up as he shuffled toward Morro's room. He had to check. He would never get to sleep if he didn't.

Silently, Wu pushed the door to Morro's bedroom open.

He barely stopped himself from sighing in relief when he saw Morro sprawled out on his bed, contentedly snoring without a care in the world. The blanket was lying bunched up on the floor, the wind master having kicked it off in the night.

He was okay.

He was _here_.

Unable to help himself, Wu sidled further into the room and, picking up the blanket, gently laid it on top of Morro. He froze when the former ghost shifted in his sleep, but he sagged in relief when Morro resumed his snoring a moment later.

Wu affectionately shook his head. How Morro managed to sleep on his stomach was and always would be a mystery to him.

Feeling much better, the old sensei tiptoed back out of the room and softly shut the door behind him. Now, he could sleep.

* * *

The next night, it happened again.

Because, Wu couldn't get the image out of his head out of Lloyd approaching the tea shop- and realizing it _wasn't_ Lloyd, that Lloyd was controlling the _wind_ , and if that was true, that meant…

Morro was possessing Lloyd.

Morro was a ghost.

Morro had died.

Morro _died_.

And, he was exactly the same as the day he had left. Meaning, that his student, the child he had taken in and raised, had died less than a year after leaving his care.

Now, in the dark, Wu couldn't figure out why he hadn't gone after Morro.

It had been Morro's decision, of course. He was old enough to leave, old enough to take care of himself. Besides, Wu, really, had no claim to him. He couldn't force Morro to stay, and despite all of his efforts, he obviously couldn't get Morro to see reason.

 _He'll be back in a few days_ , Wu had told himself as he watched Morro stomp down the monastery's steps toward an impossible goal. _Once he realizes, he'll be back. Some things one has to learn on his own_.

Looking back now, though, that sounded like the fortune cookie nonsense he spouted to the ninja when he didn't know the answer to a dilemma rather than a legitimate excuse. Because, Morro _hadn't_ come back. Wu let him go…, and he had died.

Wu started feeling it again. Anxiety pulling at his heartstrings. The persistent thought that Morro was hurt or gone or _dead_ , and so he _had_ to check on him, just a quick peek, before he would be able to sleep.

Like the night before, Wu used all of his numerous years of training to sneak down the hall and push open Morro's bedroom door without a sound.

A weight fell from his shoulders when he saw Morro, once again snoring on his stomach, once again with his blanket lying on the floor. Wu replaced the comforter on top of Morro, who didn't even twitch this time, and returned to his room. Mind at ease, he fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

It became a nightly habit. No matter how hard he tried, Wu _could not_ go to sleep until he checked on Morro. Every night he had to make sure Morro was here, had to make sure he was okay, and every night the wind master was.

Even though seeing his student sleeping so tranquilly offered him a peace of mind that was impossible to find any other way, Wu couldn't help but think that he shouldn't feel the need to do so. Besides, what if Morro woke up one night? Morro would, no doubt, resent the supervision. He was an adult in terms of years of existence and almost an adult in terms of age; he didn't need Wu hovering over him like a new mother checking to make sure her infant was breathing every hour of the night.

Yet, Wu couldn't break the habit.

Not to mention the fact that the protectiveness was bleeding into other domains of his life.

For example, one day, Morro poked his head into the kitchen where Wu and Misako were talking.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to go rock climbing with Cole," he stated. "We'll be back later."

 _Rock climbing_? Sure, the ninja had undertaken _much_ more dangerous tasks in their everyday lives, but it only took one slip up for a fatal accident…

Morro had already started walking away, but Wu couldn't help but call after him. "When?"

Morro, more than a little surprised, leaned back into the doorway. "Huh?"

"When will you be back?"

Morro scratched his cheek. "Uh, I don't know. Later. Before it gets dark."

Satisfied, Wu nodded. "And, you have your cell phone?"

"Of course."

"And, you will _answer_ if I call?"

Morro grimaced. While he was borderline addicted to app games, it was no secret that Morro was freaked out by the concept of a phone call, and so he had quickly earned a reputation of ignoring phone calls and only sometimes responding to text messages.

"Can't you call Cole?" Morro asked.

"And, if I cannot get a hold of Cole?"

Morro groaned. "Okay, yes. Fine. Can I go now?"

Wu dismissed him with a wave. "Have fun. But, be careful."

"Yeah, yeah," Morro grumbled before hurrying off, as if afraid of being asked to do another undesirable task.

When Wu turned back to Misako to continue their conversation, he saw her smirking at him with a knowing smile.

"What is it?"

Misako laughed. "It suits you."

Wu debated denying having any knowledge of what Misako was talking about, but in hindsight, he _had_ been rather obvious. So, instead, he decided to ask for her advice on the _other_ issue.

"I have… taken to checking on Morro in the night," Wu admitted. "I… I don't know why I worry so much."

Misako laughed once again, shaking her head at Wu's obliviousness. "You think I don't still check on Lloyd? Parents _always_ worry, Wu."

It was on the tip of his tongue. _Morro's not my son_. But, he didn't say it. Even though it was true, saying it out loud seemed like a lie.

"If it bothers you so much, why don't you talk to him about it?"

Wu looked up in alarm. "Talk to Morro about it? No, he would only resent it."

Misako raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Wu was just about to respond in the affirmative… when he stopped. He kept having to remind himself that this was not the same Morro that had left all those years ago. He had changed and grown and learned in so many ways, so... Wu _couldn't_ be sure how this new Morro would react to the realization that Wu had been checking up on him every night.

Misako sighed. "Communication is the key to every relationship, Wu. And… from what you've told me, I feel like that's something you two lack."

Wu blinked. "I will… consider it."

* * *

Wu couldn't _stop_ considering it.

Misako's words kept repeating themselves in his head. _"Communication is the key to every relationship_." He'd always asked himself what would have happened if he had gone after Morro, but now he was asking himself, if he _had_ gone after Morro, what would he have said? What could he have said to get Morro to come back?

He'd always thought there was nothing to be said. He'd always told himself that it had been Morro's decision and his alone. He'd always told himself that Morro would have to realize a few things about himself before he would come back. That's why Wu never went after him. That's why Wu never said anything.

But, he hadn't even _tried._

If he had gone after Morro, if he had told Morro how much he had worried every day he was gone, if he had made sure Morro knew that the gates were _open_ , that he could come _home_ no matter how much time had passed, no matter what he had done, that Wu would be there with open arms…

Had he ever told Morro that he loved him? He must have..., but now he couldn't remember one time he had ever said it. He had _thought_ it, _felt_ it, but had he ever _said_ it?

It might have changed everything. It might have changed nothing.

But, Wu hadn't even _tried_.

Feeling more anxious than usual, Wu stood up out of bed to complete his nightly ritual of checking on Morro. He came to the wind master's room and pushed open the door, ready to pick the comforter up off the-

Morro was gone.

Morro was _gone_.

The blanket was on the floor as if Morro _had_ been sleeping there earlier, but his student was nowhere to be found.

Wu felt a type of panic rising in his chest that he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

He all but ran down the hall, ready to raise the alarm and send his other ninja out in all directions in search of Morro and drag him home if they had to-

Wu stopped in the doorway of the kitchen.

Morro was sitting at the table, staring out the dark window. Alive. Breathing. Uninjured. _Here_.

He looked up when he noticed Wu's presence there, completely unaware of his sensei's still racing heart that was only now beginning to slow.

"Oh. Hi," he greeted. "Couldn't sleep."

Wu took another moment to compose himself. "Would you like a cup of tea?" Because there was _no way_ he was going to be able to sleep after _that_ heart attack.

"Sure."

Moments later, the two of them were sitting side by side at the kitchen table, drinking their tea.

"What is preventing you from being able to sleep?" Wu asked.

Morro shrugged. "You know, bad dream, regretting poor life choices, thinking how things might have gone differently. The usual."

Wu nodded as Morro took a sip of tea. Before Wu could offer any advice, the wind master looked at his sensei and asked, "What are you doing up?"

Carefully, Wu set his tea cup on the table, thinking about how exactly he wanted to respond. He could have been as vague and evasive as Morro was being, but then he heard Misako's words playing in his head again…

He sighed. "I was worried when you were not in your room. I... have been checking on you every night."

Wu waited for some biting remark about how Morro didn't need a babysitter or how Wu needed to respect his privacy.

Morro laughed. "Yeah, I _know_."

When Wu responded with only a supremely confused expression, Morro elaborated. "Did you think I just assumed my comforter appeared back on top of me every night?"

Wu blinked. For a Spinjitzu master and ninja sensei, he wasn't very sneaky at all.

"Oh," is all he could say at first. "Why did you not say anything to me?"

Morro, seeming embarrassed himself now, looked away and shrugged again. "I don't know. I just thought we didn't talk about stuff like that."

And, all of Misako's predictions were confirmed.

" _Communication is the key to every relationship, Wu. And… from what you've told me, I feel like that's something you two lack."_

Wu liked checking on Morro in the night, and if the fact that he hadn't told Wu to stop was any indication, Morro liked that Wu checked on him. And yet, for some reason, it had become an unspoken thing, something they didn't, almost _couldn't_ discuss.

Somehow, at some point, Wu and Morro had stopped communicating. Maybe it was Wu's natural stoicism or his tendency to think he already knew what other people were thinking. Maybe it was Morro's unfamiliarity with affection or his social awkwardness.

Maybe they both thought the unspoken things didn't need to be said, and in that way, the unspoken things became _unheard_ things became _unfelt_ things became _lost_ things.

Unaware of the epiphany Wu was experiencing, Morro stood up, carrying his empty teacup to the sink. "Anyway, I guess I'll go back to bed now. Might as well lie in the dark even if I can't fall asleep, right?"

The wind master was almost out the door when Wu called after him. "Morro."

Morro turned around-

And went as stiff as a statue when Wu hugged him.

"I love you, Morro."

Morro started, and Wu regretted that such a simple, _true_ announcement would shock him so much.

A silent moment passed. Wu knew he was putting his student in an awkward spot: even if he _did_ love Wu- which was questionable after everything they had been through- Wu knew Morro struggled with expressing himself, with expressing his true feelings-

Slowly, Morro hugged Wu back.

"...me too," Morro said. "I mean, I... _ugh_. Iloveyoutoo."

Morro, blushing, pulled away and quickly left the room before Wu could react.

Wu chuckled to himself, only now feeling like he could sleep. No matter how many times Wu checked on him, he couldn't be sure that nothing would happen to Morro. He couldn't protect Morro from everything, and he couldn't be certain Morro wouldn't leave of his own accord once again.

But, this time, he would make sure Morro _knew_ , that he _heard_ the unspoken things, and maybe, hopefully, that would be enough.

* * *

 **Wow, that was my first chapter EVER to be written from Wu's point of view! (And I think the most speaking lines Misako's ever had in a story of mine XD) Please let me know if I wrote him well! :D**

 **Feel free to leave your requests/suggestions as well! They inspire me! :D**


	4. Trust

**Hello, everyone! Once again, I am so glad to see the response this story has gotten! Thank you all for your support!**

 **Te sequel is still coming along, so please be patient! ^_^**

 **This one is a TWO PARTER! Exciting, I know XD**

 **Special thanks to: GwenBrightly, Inimidesert, RandomDragon2.0, A Huge Fangirl, Katla1, RobinLost, Peanut2196, TheKittenQueen, FirstFandomFangirl, DannyPhantomPhandom, Fxreflies, Plumcicle, ILoveCheetos but IAMTIMELESS, Cerenda, Guest, TheYellowNinja, Star, Derpidot, Breeze015, and PrairieSkies for reviewing! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **Plumcicle:** **Ooh, it makes me so happy that you remember that line from Broken Circle! That is a very good suggestion, so keep your eye out for it! ;D As for the sequel… hmm… a hint? It *will* involve the ninja travelling into the Departed Realm again. I hope that will tide you over until I start posting it! ;D Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Guest:** **Aw, I'm so glad you enjoyed Wu's point of view! I definitely consider him Morro's father figure :3 Wow, literally jumping up and down?! That makes me sooo happy to hear! Thank you so much! :D**

 **TheYellowNinja: I think anybody would be overprotective after everything those two have been through XD I'm glad you liked the little detail about Morro's sleeping position! I thought it seemed characteristic of him XD Morro and Wu are working on their relationship, even if Morro likes to act all tough (when he's really such a softie XD) I'm so happy you're still excited for the sequel even though it's taking me forever to write! I was having a *bit* of writer's block, but the sequel is still coming along! Thank you for reviewing and being patient! XD**

 **Star:** **The cutest thing EVER?! Wow, that's a huge compliment! XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro is an incredible liar, and it bothers Lloyd. A _lot_.**

 **Shout outs at the end of the chapter because they contain spoilers! :D**

* * *

"Morro- hey, I'm talking to you!"

"You're my leader, not my mom! Now, get off my back!"

This was punctuated by the slamming of the door.

"Morro, you can't just run away when-"

Lloyd was interrupted by a muffled retort, which, whatever it was, served to further irritate him.

Nya, coming in from the kitchen to see most of her brothers gathered in the living room, sighed. "They're going at it again?"

Now, Lloyd had accepted Morro as a brother and forgiven him for his possession and every other crime he had committed. Morro had promised to follow Lloyd unquestioningly and was making obvious efforts to be a better person. Neither of them were trying to go back on these promises.

But, unfortunately, this had not translated to an automatically healthy and flourishing relationship between them like the others had hoped. Even without their rocky history with each other, their personalities clashed. Lloyd, who tended toward a more gentle leadership style than Morro thought was appropriate, felt that the former ghost's "tips" were condescending. Morro complained that Lloyd pried too much into his personal life, policing his every move like he was still a criminal rather than a teammate.

So, in short, they got on each other's nerves. A _lot_.

So, they argued.

A _lot_.

"Yep," Kai replied in an exasperated tone, letting his head fall against the back of the couch.

"What was it this time?"

"You are aware of the fact that Morro has been leaving the Bounty every Tuesday and Thursday night at around six PM?" Zane asked her.

"Yes…"

"Claiming that he was going to the library?"

Nya's eyebrows shot up. "He hasn't been?"

"Well, Lloyd _allegedly_ wasn't checking up on Morro, but just happened to be dropping by the library at that time," Cole explained. "And, surprise! Morro wasn't there."

"Where was he?" Nya asked.

Jay shrugged. "He won't tell anybody. And, for some reason, it's really bugging Lloyd."

This was also a major issue. Soon enough, the ninja discovered another of Morro's habits, this one more unnerving than his other quirks.

He lied. They were usually harmless, white lies that were really more irritating than problematic, but it was enough for the others to take note. For example, he'd told Kai his favorite fruit was pear, and later told Zane his favorite fruit was apple, only for them to find him munching on oranges. He told Jay a story from his time in the Departed Realm featuring a cowboy and later told Cole the same exact story featuring a knight instead.

Wu had had a long talk with Morro about it and bid his ninja be patient with their newest member. Most of the ninja had let it go, chalking it up to Morro still unused to being "good."

For some reason though, the lies, no matter how insignificant, seemed to particularly irritate Lloyd.

Which was coming to a head with this "library" story.

" _Ugh_ ," Lloyd groaned, trudging back into the room. "I don't get it. I just don't _get_ it. Why can't he just tell me where he was? What's the big deal?"

Lloyd's older siblings looked at each other uneasily. Though they supported Lloyd always, they didn't want to bad mouth Morro behind his back either.

"Lloyd," Zane addressed, standing up from the couch and placing his hand on the Green Ninja's shoulder. "We all know that Morro is very stubborn. I think… you pushing him tell you where he has been is only causing him to be more evasive."

"I shouldn't have to push him to tell me," Lloyd rebutted, crossing his arms. "If he won't tell me, then he must be hiding something, and _that_ is what concerns me."

"Morro's a pretty private person, Lloyd," Cole offered apologetically, shrugging. "Maybe it's the principle of the thing, you know?"

Lloyd scoffed, his siblings' advice clearly going in one ear and out the other. "I'm going to train," he muttered, stomping out onto the deck to blow off some steam.

* * *

It was late Tuesday night, Morro having returned from his mystery errand without even a hint as to where he might have been. Lloyd had been giving him the cold shoulder, and Morro pretended not to be bothered by it, purposely avoiding the Green Ninja as well.

But, they couldn't put off meeting any longer after the Bounty's alarm went off.

"Where's the fire?" Kai asked with a smirk, noticing he was the last to enter the control room.

"Bank robbery," Lloyd explained, finally shutting off the alarm. "Looks pretty textbook. The police tailed them to their hideout, but there are a bunch of guys inside, all considered armed and extremely dangerous, so they want to send us in full stealth."

Cole cracked his knuckles. "Sounds fun. Let's go."

All seven of the ninja moved toward the door- until Lloyd held his hand out in front of Morro.

The wind master recoiled, surprised. Already defensive, he snapped, "What?"

"Where were you tonight?" Lloyd demanded.

Morro gaped. " _Now_? You want do this now?"

"Are you committing crimes? Breaking the law?"

" _What_?" Morro yelled, outraged. "No!"

"Are you doing drugs? Alcohol?"

Morro started, hurt evident on his face. "Is that seriously what you think of me?"

"I don't know what to think, Morro," Lloyd retorted. "And, until you tell me what it is that you're trying to cover up, then I can't let you come on the mission."

"You can't- you can't _do_ that!" Morro sputtered. He clenched his fists, looking for all the world like he was barely restraining himself from punching Lloyd in the mouth. "You _know_ I'm one of the best fighters-"

"It's not because you're not a good fighter, Morro," Lloyd said calmly, though his narrowed green eyes hinted at the emotions roiling just beneath the surface. "It's because you're a liar. And, I can't have someone I don't trust on the team."

The other ninja were all sharing wide eyes looks, unsure whose side they should take. Sure, Morro's lies had gotten on everyone's nerves at some point or another, but benching him still seemed extreme; besides, no one else was anywhere near as concerned as Lloyd was about Morro's Tuesday and Thursday outings.

Still, Lloyd was the leader, and this was his call.

" _Fine_ ," Morro snapped, shoving past Lloyd roughly. "Call me when you decide to _grow up_."

Before Lloyd could say something equally as snarky in return, Morro's bedroom door slammed shut.

Lloyd sighed, a flash of remorse flickering over his features. He took a step forward, looking as if he was about to go after Morro and make amends…

But, glancing at his other siblings, he shook off the guilt and nodded resolutely at them. "Let's go."

* * *

"Stupid Lloyd," Morro muttered, trying to shove the jigsaw puzzle piece into the space where it _should_ fit even though it was stubbornly refusing to go in. "Stupid leader calling me a stupid liar." Groaning in frustration, he threw the piece on the table. "Ugh, stupid puzzle!"

"Perhaps you should trying looking at the situation from a different angle," Master Wu advised, plucking the puzzle piece Morro had been struggling with off the table. To illustrate his point, he turned the piece ninety degrees and then pushed it neatly into its place in the puzzle. "Lloyd is at a loss, and he thinks he is doing what is best for him and his team."

"No, he's doesn't. He's doing this because it's petty and wants to 'get back at me' or something," Morro argued, snatching another piece off the table and trying to fit it into different spots. He usually disliked jigsaw puzzles, but Wu was already in the middle of one and he needed something to do. "I mean, he seriously asked me if I was on drugs. Why doesn't he trust me?"

"Trust is a two way street, Morro," Wu told him. "Perhaps if you showed Lloyd you trusted him enough to tell him the truth about where you go, then he would trust you in turn."

"You know why I don't tell them," Morro reminded his sensei, throwing his puzzle piece on the table once again and picking up a new one. "Besides, I shouldn't have to give Lloyd an itinerary of my life. He's treating me like a child!"

Wu was about to respond- when Misako rushed into the room, out of breath.

"Zane sent out a distress call," she informed the two, her voice strained with worry. "They've been captured."

Morro stood up out of his chair. "All of them? Lloyd too?"

Misako nodded grimly.

Morro laughed. "Yes! Oh man, I can't _wait_ to see Lloyd's face after I save all of them. I'm going to _enjoy_ making him eat his words."

He was halfway out the door when Misako stopped him. "Wait, you're going… by yourself?"

Morro blinked. "Um, _yeah_. It's going to be a piece of cake- mark my words." He rushed out of the room.

"Send me the address!" He called over his shoulder before shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Morro crouched behind a bush near the robbers' hideout. It looked like it used to be a warehouse, decked out into a fortress to protect the criminals. He had already scoped out the entire perimeter and determined that one guard was patrolling the bottom floor.

He smirked as he recalled what he had told Misako. This was definitely going to be a piece of cake.

Morro skulked over to the warehouse door, sure to be locked. There was one grimy window set in its center- and, just when he knew the guard was passing by, Morro tapped on it.

Holding his breath, the wind master pressed himself against the wall beside the door and, for a moment, mused how easy this entire mission would have been if he was a ghost again.

The light shining through the window was blocked as the guard peered out of it, obviously searching for the origin of the sound. Morro crossed his fingers… and got his wish a moment later when the guard opened the door and stepped out of the warehouse.

He never saw it coming.

Morro's arms were around his neck in a chokehold, cutting off his air supply. The guard bucked and struggled valiantly, delivering quite a few vicious elbows to Morro's ribcage, which he was sure would bruise later, but Morro was too strong and his grip was locked in tight. The guard's struggles slowed and then stopped altogether. He sagged in Morro's grasp as he lost consciousness, and the wind master, as gently as he could, lowered him to the ground.

Morro wasted no time. Dragging him to a particularly shady area not immediately visible from the second floor, Morro stripped the guard to his underwear, pulling on the black uniform and bullet proof vest over his own gi. He found handcuffs attached to the guard's belt, and with these, he chained the unconscious man's hands behind his back and tied his own belt around his mouth as a gag.

Hesitantly, he picked up the laser gun… thing the guard dropped in the scuffle. Morro had been known to have a fairly bad track record with technology and the last thing he needed was to blast his own foot off with the thing.

Finally, he was ready. He carefully opened the door to the warehouse with the guard's key, looking left and right down the hall just to make sure the fight hadn't drawn any attention (and to make sure no one was waiting around the corner to grab _him_ in a chokehold.) Seeing no one, he started marching confidently down the hall like he was on patrol, just in case he came across another guard.

"Okay, now where would I hide ninja prisoners…?" He whispered to himself, thinking back to his villain days.

If _he_ had been the one in charge of this operation, knowing he only had a limited number of personnel _and_ how dangerous the ninja were, he'd have the most guards where they were. The fact that there was only one guy on this floor suggested he was nothing more than a lookout… and that the ninja must be upstairs.

He circled the floor for the better part of five minutes, searching for a staircase. He passed the time thinking about how much he could gloat about his solo rescue mission to the others- and _especially_ Lloyd- for… well, _years_ even.

Finally, though, he came across the stairs, and he had to refocus himself on the mission at hand.

As he peered down the hall of the second floor he saw two guards on either side of a heavy metal door. He smirked. They couldn't have made this easier if they _tried_.

The only problem was that if the guards knew each other personally, they would recognize him as an imposter instantly. For an operation like this, Morro assumed the boss would have hired some muscle, but he couldn't know for sure that this wasn't a group of close friends that had decided to try to pull off a heist.

Well, he wouldn't know until he tried.

He strolled down the hallway confidently. The two guards raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything, confirming Morro's suspicions that they didn't know he wasn't one of them.

They were quiet until he tried to open the door they were guarding, that is.

"Hey," one of the guards barked, holding up a hand. "What are you doing?"

Morro looked at the guard like he lost his mind. "The boss wants to see him," he explained vaguely, pointing at the door to reference the guard inside. If there was even a guard inside. If that guard wasn't a woman. If these two didn't ask Morro to name exactly who "the boss" wanted.

He continued before they could ask. "I'm his relief. Now, are you going to stand around asking questions and wasting everyone's time or are you going to let me in?"

The guards glanced at each other warily. Morro thought they might not have believed him… but there hadn't been a waver in Morro's voice. Not a hint of hesitation or uncertainty.

At least all the lies he'd told had made him pretty good at it.

"Sorry," the guard mumbled, unlocking the door with his key and holding it open for Morro.

"You should be," Morro retorted, stomping into the room.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a rainbow of colored gis, all straightening with surprise when they caught sight of him, but Morro couldn't even flash them a look to let them know not to blow his cover. One hint that Morro was more familiar with them than he should be, and he'd be caught.

"Hey," he greeted yet another guard, who was sitting in a chair with his laser gun at the ready, even though all the ninja were chained and obviously not a threat. Deciding to stick with the same story he told the others, he jerked his thumb at the door behind him. "The boss wants to see you."

The guard straightened. "He does? Why didn't I hear about this over the radio?"

Morro sighed in exasperation. "You really think I stood around questioning the boss? You want to know what he had for breakfast this morning or what color his socks are? How am I supposed to know?"

The guard, not as easily convinced as the two outside, furrowed his brow. "Well, it's just that usually-"

Morro threw both arms up in the air. "Fine, if you want me to go back and tell the boss that, even though he sent a messenger _in person_ to relieve you, that _you_ need a personal call over the radio to know that he needs to see you, I will."

He turned toward the door, praying to every star in the sky that the guard didn't call his bluff. He could fight him, but the commotion would certainly draw the attention of the others outside. And, he really didn't want to risk a three on one battle, especially when they had those laser guns.

"No, wait!"

Morro imperceptibly sighed in relief. _Yes_.

Outwardly, though, he turned lackadaisically back to the guard, a half-lidded expression on his face as if he really couldn't care less.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," the guard told him hurriedly. As he stood up, though, the jangle of keys attached to his belt reminded Morro that the ninja were still chained. He couldn't let the guard leave the room with the keys, but asking for them would be way too suspicious…

Thinking on his feet, he checked the guard with his shoulder before walking past him. "That's for wasting my time."

The guard scoffed, annoyed, but, thinking he was already in enough trouble, said nothing as he hurried out the door and down the hall.

"Morro!" Jay whisper-cheered. "That was- that was _fantastic_! You even had _me_ going there!"

"Very impressive," Zane chimed in as well. "Though the problem remains that that guard had the keys to the Vengestone handcuffs." He gestured apologetically to his hands that were chained to a pipe. The room itself was mostly bare, brick wall and stone floor with various pipes and bars attached to the perimeter, suggesting it had once housed equipment or machinery of some kind.

"You mean… these keys?" He asked, twirling the key ring around his finger. "Pickpocketing is like riding a bike. You never forget."

The ninja whisper-cheered once again, congratulating and thanking Morro. The wind master revelled in the praise as he began unlocking them… until he noticed that the one from which he wanted the pat on the back the most was not here.

"Where the heck is Lloyd?" He demanded. His eyes roamed over the others. Cole was unconscious, and Nya was pressing a hand to her stomach like she had been wounded. Kai was nursing what seemed to be a twisted ankle and growled at the question.

"They took him somewhere else," the red ninja supplied as Morro unlocked his handcuffs. "The main guy said he wanted to 'keep him close.'"

Morro muttered a curse. Any second now, the guard he had sent away would reach the boss, and then they'd find out that his "relief" had been a hoax. The guards outside were planning to ambush him the second he stepped into the hallway for all he knew.

"Okay. I'll find him," he said with conviction, watching as Jay helped Zane hoist Cole onto his back before helping Nya to her feet and wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"Not by yourself you're not," Kai stated, as if it were obvious.

Morro shook his head. "You're hurt. So are the others. You guys will only slow me down and end up getting recaptured. They're going to figure out what's going on any second now, and you need to go before they raise the alarm."

Kai shook his head stubbornly. "Morro, this is Lloyd we're talking about-"

"Yeah, I _know_ ," Morro interrupted irritably. Did none of them trust him? "I'll save him, okay?"

Kai pressed his lips into a line, going over the situation in his head, and Morro almost snapped at him about the time limit.

Finally, he looked over his shoulder at his little sister, obviously weak even if she kept insisting she was okay.

"Fine," Kai grumbled. "But, if you two aren't back in half an hour, we're coming to get you."

"Deal," Morro agreed, knowing he would get Lloyd out _well_ before thirty minutes was up. "But first, we need to deal with these two geniuses."

Two unconscious guards later, the ninja were hurrying toward the staircase after wishing Morro luck and telling him to be careful. The wind master, meanwhile, turned toward the other direction, skulking down the hallway. He had no way of knowing the extent to which the criminals knew of his deceit- apparently they knew enough not to communicate over the radio, since Morro now noticed he had one attached to the shoulder of his vest and would be able to hear everything they said, which, as of now, was nothing.

After determining that there was no one else on this floor, Morro crept up the stairs to the second floor. He saw three guards gathered loosely in front of another metal door. Morro tried to decide how to go about rescuing Lloyd. Once again, he didn't want to try his chances at fighting the guards outright, but then again, his cover was sure to be blown by now.

Just as he was bracing himself to face them head on, he heard the walkie-talkie on his vest crackle with static before a voice said, " _The prisoners have escaped! Report to the ground immediately! Remember, we want them alive!"_

Morro's eyes widened as he saw all three guards suddenly rush toward the stairwell where he was hiding. He pressed himself against the wall by the door- and had to swallow a shout of pain when the door slammed open so the handle nailed him in the stomach. Yep- there would definitely be a door handle-shaped bruise there in the morning.

Although he was mildly concerned that the other ninja wouldn't be able to escape the pursuing guards in the condition they were in, he was confident in their several minute head start. Besides, Lloyd was the top priority at the moment.

Dashing toward the door the guards had left devoid of security, he opened the door.

Lloyd was slumped over on the ground in the middle of the room, his hands handcuffed behind his back. At first, the sight of the Green Ninja only brought all of Morro's anger and hurt at being left behind to the surface… but it dissipated almost as soon as he saw the sprawling dark red and purple bruise taking up residence on the entire left side of Lloyd's face and the dried blood on his lip.

"Lloyd!" Morro called, rushing over to his leader in the center of the room as he scrambled for the keys.

Lloyd stirred, his eyes opening a crack- before widening when they finally focused on Morro.

"Morro?!" He shouted. "What are you _doing_ here?!"

Morro rolled his eyes. What had he expected? " _Oh, thank goodness?_ " " _Thanks for coming for me_?" " _I'm sorry_?"

But, no, of course not. Lloyd just wanted to be mad that Morro had defied a direct order instead of giving him any credit. Well, fine. Morro could still gloat about it later.

"What I'm doing here is saving-"

Lloyd gasped, his eyes fixed on something behind Morro.

"Look out!"

Morro sensed the object careening toward his head a moment before it made contact- but it was too late. The world dissolved into blackness as he lost consciousness.

* * *

 **Shout out to peaches n plasma creme for requesting a chapter where Morro saved all the ninja.**

 **Shout out to Guest for requesting that Lloyd still be slightly edgy around Morro and that they get to know each other better.**

 **And shout out to Ms. Cipher16 for requesting bonding between Lloyd and Morro.**

 **Thank you all so much for your lovely requests! Please let me know if I did them justice!**

* * *

 **A CLIFFHANGER?! Yep, the second part will be coming out some time next week! ;D**

 **In the meantime, where *does* Morro go every Tuesday and Thursday? Shout to any one who guesses correctly XD**

 **Please leave your requests/suggestions! I love reading each and every one of them! :D**


	5. Halfway

**Okay, the second part a *little* later than expected, but I had some things I wanted to add ^-^ Aaand, I was working on the sequel! ;D**

 **And, because so many of you have been asking what the title of the sequel is, I've decided to finally reveal it! It is... at the bottom of the chapter XD**

 **Special thanks to: Inimidesert, ardhoniel. LotRStarWarsNinjago, PrairieSkies, DawnNinja, RandomDragon2.0, Katla1, Peanut2196, A Huge Fangirl, KyraPlays, Ms. Cipher16, TheYellowNinja, Guest, Plumcicle, LeUltimateNerd, Cerenda, and Breeze015 for reviewing!**

 **I will be replying to reviews after posting this chapter! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **TheYellowNinja: A DECADE?! Aw, you are so sweet! :D Things are definitely going better in the sequel now, so I *hope* to start posting soon! :D Ooh, I TOTALLY think Morro and Lloyd would still not get along even after everything XD We'll find out where Morro's been going this chapter! ;D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Plumcicle: Aw, thank you so much! Ooh, good idea! We will see ;D Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Guest: Aw, you review was SO incredibly kind! It really made my day! :D Cole is my favorite too, but, c'mon, who could not like any of them? XD I'm so glad you're excited for the sequel! And, it makes me SO happy to know you are look forward to my updates! :D AND, that you would want to stay home from school to read the next chapter! XD We will see about where Morro's been going this chapter ;D And, that's a great suggestion for a Five Times! (When I *eventually* get around to writing them again XD) Ooh, and sorry about the review thingie! There's a delay for guest reviews, so that's why it didn't show up right away XD We will get a Cole and Morro bonding chapter very soon! :D Thank you SO MUCH for this absolutely LOVELY review! :D**

* * *

Morro woke up all at once, jerking his head up to assess the situation- then immediately groaning as pain, sharp and _loud_ , tore through his brain.

"Morro! Are you okay?"

When the spots of pain finally cleared, Morro blinked and focused on Lloyd, who was chained to the wall right beside him. The wind master experimentally moved his hands… only for them to strain against his own pair of Vengestone handcuffs.

"Oh, just peachy," he grumbled sarcastically. The room they were being held in was bare- nothing he could use as a weapon. No one else was in the room at the moment, but who knew when the guards would return- and who knew what they had planned for the two captured ninja. Finally, Morro turned back to Lloyd-

His eyes widened once they fixed on the dark red stain on the outer part of Lloyd's thigh.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?" Morro demanded.

"It's no big deal," Lloyd replied dismissively, though when he leaned back against the wall, he gritted his teeth with a pained expression.

"Are you kidding? That looks serious," Morro countered, testing the range of his chains once again. If he stretched, he could _just_ reach Lloyd's leg. Grabbing it, he maneuvered it so it stretched across his lap- ignoring Lloyd's protests and grunts of pain- and pressed both hands to the wound. He cringed when he felt the warm, sticky substance immediately coat the palm of his hand and tried not to think about how _gross_ this was. "You'd think the _Green Ninja_ would know that. Then again, you'd think the _Green Ninja_ wouldn't have gotten captured in the first place."

He was mostly joking, but Lloyd scoffed as if he were offended. "Look, it was an ambush from the beginning. The bank robbery was the decoy; their real target was us the whole time. They were _waiting_ for us, and the second we got in here, they swarmed. Apparently, we have a lot of enemies that would pay a _lot_ of money for us."

Lloyd raised a critical eyebrow at Morro then. "And, in case you didn't notice, _you_ were captured too. What, you didn't think that all the guards getting called away from my room at the exact moment you needed to get in was suspicious in the slightest?"

Morro blinked, remembering getting the call over his stolen radio that required the presence of _all_ the guards to go after the escaped prisoners. Leaving the _Green Ninja_ conspicuously unprotected.

Lloyd was right. He should have known- or at least looked around upon entering the room instead of immediately darting to Lloyd's side and leaving himself vulnerable to an attack from behind.

Morro turned his face away, embarrassed and angry with himself, especially considering now his dream of getting to gloat over his solo save was crushed. Still, Morro was very good at taking his own hurt and using it to hurt other people. So, the image of Lloyd holding his hand out and calling him a liar still fresh in his mind, he snapped, "At least I came for you, even after you left me behind. Not like you would've come for me."

Lloyd balked, his green eyes startlingly vibrant against his paler than usual face on one side and mottled bruise on the other. "What? Of _course_ I would come for you. Why would you even say that?"

Morro rolled his eyes. "What, even for someone you can't trust? I thought you'd be grateful to get rid of the problem."

Lloyd blew the air out of his cheeks, resting his head against the wall behind him. "Why are you so _stupid_? I didn't- I didn't leave you behind to be petty or something and I certainly wasn't trying to 'get rid of the problem.' It's just- I'm just- I'm _worried_ about you, Morro."

Morro, completely caught off guard, could only say, "Huh?"

Lloyd ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, if you're doing something _so bad_ that you can't tell me where you go, then of course I'm going to worry. I just, you know, want you to feel safe enough to be able to tell me the truth."

Morro stared. Lloyd looked away, a faint blush on his cheeks after being so earnest and probably dreading Morro's mockery.

Morro recalled Wu's words now. _"Trust is a two way street."_

After the wind master didn't say anything, Lloyd turned back to him with another sigh. "Look, Morro, you don't-"

"I'm taking a painting class."

Now, it was Lloyd's turn to stare.

Morro could feel the heat radiating off his face as he blushed. Part of him was cursing himself for admitting it to Lloyd, but the other part of him was relieved to finally just be honest and clear the air between them.

After several long moments, Lloyd repeated in disbelief, "A painting class."

Morro raised his right hand. "I swear I'm not lying. Ask Master Wu. The class is every Tuesday and Thursday at six, and I can take you there to prove it."

Lloyd went to throw his hands in the air, only to have them yanked to a stop by the chains (which only seemed to fuel his irritation.)

"All of this… _was about a painting class_?!" Lloyd demanded. "Why couldn't you have just told me that in the first place?!"

Morro recoiled in shock, as if Lloyd had just suggested he jump off a twenty story building. "Because, it's embarrassing!"

"Cole loves to draw! Jay writes poetry!" Lloyd listed. "What's so embarrassing about painting?!"

"It's not-" Morro cut himself off and huffed, looking away.

Lloyd, sensing the shift in mood, immediately calmed down and asked, "It's not what?"

Morro searched desperately for an escape route, but there was no getting away from Lloyd. He wasn't used to being so genuine- to having someone ask him what was wrong with such concern in their eyes, like they _cared_ \- and he hated the nervous, butterfly feeling in his stomach at the thought of answering.

Lloyd nudged Morro with the leg that was still resting on the wind master's lap. "It's not what?"

Morro could almost hear Master Wu pushing him to open up, telling him that the others could only meet him halfway.

Lloyd was meeting him halfway.

"It's not… just the painting that's embarrassing," Morro mumbled. "It's, you know, the reason behind it."

Lloyd, finding the weakness in Morro's barriers, prompted him again. "Okay… what reason?"

"It's just-" Morro stopped, took a deep breath, and started over. "It's… _hard_ to be thrown into a world that left you behind a long time ago." He eyes brushed over Lloyd before he bashfully averted his gaze. "And, try to be part of a group that's been a family for a long time without you. So, sometimes I just start feeling weird- anxious, I guess- so I… lie about stuff that doesn't matter. I don't know why that's easier or better. It just _is_."

Morro sighed in exasperation. "But, you know, Wu said that wasn't 'healthy' or whatever- plus, my temper and needing to 'expand my horizons'- so he suggested something artistic as an… I don't know. Positive outlet. Therapy. Whatever."

Once he was finished, Morro stared determinedly at the wall, sure the sheer brilliance of his blush would blind Lloyd if he looked at the Green Ninja head on. Lloyd was silent, probably blindsided by the fact that Morro was not only being sincere instead of sarcastic for once in his life, but admitting to something that he was obviously mortified by.

"Morro…, I had no idea you were struggling that much with the transition," Lloyd said eventually.

Morro groaned. "Ugh, don't call it _struggling_. I'm not _struggling._ "

"You are!" Lloyd insisted. "And, I wish you had just _told_ me that. I mean, do you really think I'm going to think any less of you for feeling a little anxious sometimes?"

Morro thought it was a rhetorical question. When he realized Lloyd was waiting for an answer, he only offered a jerky shrug.

Lloyd sighed. "Look, I know I can be a little overbearing-"

"A ' _little_?'" Morro repeated incredulously with the beginnings of a teasing smile on his face.

Lloyd pressed his lips into a line, unamused. " _But,_ it's because I care. And, I just want you to be able to talk to me, you know?"

Morro looked down at Lloyd's leg, studying the red staining the sides of his fingers. "Eh, I guess I'm not used to having someone," _care about me_ "...check up on me."

There was a short pause. Morro applied more pressure to the wound, purposely not meeting Lloyd's eyes. The Green Ninja drummed his fingers against his uninjured leg.

"So… is it helping?" He finally asked. "The painting?"

Morro glanced at Lloyd out of surprise. He shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, I know it's dumb, but I… actually kind of like it."

Lloyd shook his head. "Hey, it's not dumb. I think it's really-"

They both jumped when suddenly there was a series of loud crashes just outside their door. The single, filthy window lit up with a pinkish light over and over again as the guards' laser guns discharged, accompanied by yells and the obvious sounds of a fight.

Morro and Lloyd shared a look, not sure if they should be afraid or hopeful. It could be the ninja coming to rescue them- though they had no idea if the ninja had even made it out of the warehouse unscathed after Morro had freed them- or some of the bank robbers' potential clients who would rather steal two ninja than pay for them.

The door crashed open, making both of them start.

Jay stood triumphantly in the doorway, his hands on his hips in the most heroic pose he could muster.

"Do not fret, young helpless victims," he announced in an obscenely grandiose fashion. "Your heroes have arrived."

"If you're the hero, I'd rather be a prisoner," Morro snarked, earning a snort of laughter from Lloyd.

Jay placed his hand on his chest with mock-offense. "That's the thanks we get for going to all the trouble of beating these clowns up?"

Lloyd relented with an affectionate eyeroll. "Thank you, Jay. Really. How is everybody else? Everyone's okay?"

"Yes," Zane replied instead as he entered the room, already holding out the key needed to unlock their handcuffs. "Nya's wound has been treated, Kai is resting his ankle, though not without protest, and Cole is-"

"Right here," said black ninja interrupted as he joined his brothers in the room. "And the police are arresting the guys right now."

"Lloyd, you're injured!" Zane exclaimed upon freeing the Green Ninja from the Vengestone handcuffs and spying the wound in his leg.

"I'm okay," Lloyd insisted. With a smirk at the wind master, he said, "Morro might have a concussion though."

Zane immediately started fretting over Morro instead. The former ghost cried out when Zane shone a piercing bright light directly into his eyeballs. "Do you feel nauseous? Dizzy? Can you spell your name? The fact that you are not responding to any of my questions suggests head trauma."

"I'm _fine_!" Morro asserted, trying to push Zane away with one hand while rubbing his blinded eyes with the other. Sarcastically, he called, "Thank you for that, Lloyd!"

By the time he could see again, he only managed to catch a glimpse of Lloyd's grin before Cole carried him out of the room.

* * *

The ninja spent most of the next day sleeping, though Zane was sure to carefully monitor Morro throughout the next twenty four hours. (Morro sent another silent thank you to Lloyd for that along with a few other choice words.) Lloyd, fortunately, hadn't lost too much blood, (and for that, Morro sent a silent but sassy, "you're _welcome_ ") but was still confined to his bedroom for the next couple of days. Morro was grateful he had not been alone with Lloyd again to further discuss what he'd confessed to, and by the time Thursday rolled around, he hoped he could sneak out without anymore problems.

As he was heading to his class, though, he hesitated with his hand centimeters from the door knob.

He stood in front of the door for several seconds trying to decide what to do, but finally huffed and turned around, stalking toward Lloyd's bedroom.

He knocked and poked his head in to see Lloyd sitting on his bed as he had been over the past two days, a comic book in his hands.

"Hey, uh, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be a little later tonight. Probably won't get back until eleven or so," Morro informed the Green Ninja. Part of him argued that he shouldn't even _have_ to let Lloyd know, but the winning part of him (that happened to have a voice that sounded a lot like Wu) told him that if this was going to work- if this _trust_ thing was going to work- then Morro would have to make an effort.

Lloyd frowned, setting his comic book down in his lap. "Eleven? Isn't that… a little late?"

Morro barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. _If you try to give me a curfew, Lloyd, so help me_... "Yeah, I guess it's a little late."

Lloyd twitched. Morro knew that a confirmation wasn't what Lloyd had been looking for but rather an _explanation_ as to why he was going to be out so late. But, if Morro was going to have to make an effort, then Lloyd was too. So, he waited.

Lloyd took a deep breath, but, probably having the same exact thoughts Morro was having now, forced a smile on his face. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know."

And, Morro knew it was _killing_ him not to know what Morro was up to, it was _killing_ him to not ask why, but he didn't.

Because, he trusted Morro.

So, Morro would let him off the hook this _one_ time.

"It's like an exhibition thing," he explained. "After class, everybody kind of gets to present their painting and people come to look at them."

Lloyd visibly sagged with relief. "Cool! Sounds fun. Well… be careful."

Morro nodded, proud of himself for not throwing the "thanks, Mom," over his shoulder, since he knew Lloyd couldn't help but tack on the "be careful" to pretty much any goodbye. He started heading back down the hallway…

Until he got another idea. This one even more daunting than the last.

But, Wu told him the ninja could only meet him halfway. They could only accept him into the family if he started acting like he was a part of it.

Backtracking the few steps to Lloyd's room, he leaned in once again.

"You, uh, wanna come?"

Lloyd's eyebrows shot up with surprise, but before he could verbally respond, Morro, losing the small amount of courage he had been able to scrounge up, backed up a step. "Well, it's not really that big of a deal. It's probably going to be really small and lame, and I doubt anybody will be there."

Morro shook his head and huffed, frustrated with himself. "Sorry, that was a lie. It's actually a pretty big deal, and there are going to be a lot of people there. But, you don't have to go. If you… don't want to."

Lloyd carefully maneuvered his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself into a standing position. Limping over to Morro, he grinned. "What, are you nervous about me seeing your painting?"

Morro stared at Lloyd for a moment.

Then, he smiled.

"Pffft," he scoffed with an eye roll. "I learned how to game the system. Just do something abstract and it can't be wrong."

"Wow, I think you _completely_ missed the point of the class."

"Hey, Myrtle loves my paintings."

Lloyd couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped him as he passed through the doorway. " _Myrtle_?"

"My best friend. She's eighty four and talks to a little sock puppet on her hand."

Lloyd narrowed his eyes at Morro. "Okay, I can't tell if you're joking or not."

Morro smirked. "Well, you can't expect me to be honest _all_ the time, can you?"

* * *

 **Shout outs to PrairieSkies and KyraPlays for getting the closest and guessing that Morro was taking classes! ;D**

 **Though I loved reading all of your guesses XD**

* * *

 **And, now what you've all been waiting for. XD The title of the Broken Circle sequel is...**

 **Forgotten Memory**

 **That probably raises more questions than answers, but you got what you asked for! XD (As Nadakhan would say, your wish is yours to keep... ;D) Please let me know if you liked the chapter, what you think of the sequel's title, and any suggestions/requests you have for future chapters! I will be replying to reviews shortly after posting this! :D I hope you all have a great day! :D**


	6. Crush

**I'm back with THIS monstrosity! Seriously, I was like "I'm going to whip up a quick oneshot for Getting to Know You."**

 **And then it ended up being almost 5000 words, and I was like "what the heck."**

 **Buuut, there's no good place to split it up into a two parter, so have fun with a super long oneshot! I really hope you guys like it! :D**

 **Special thanks to: Katla1, KyraPlays, Inimidesert, ardhoniel. LotRStarWarsNinjago, TheYellowNinja, Guest, PrairieSkies, GameCubeGirl1, Peanut2196, RandomDragon2.0, TheKittenQueen, Fxreflies, LeUltimateNerd, Cerenda, ABCSKW123-IX, and DannyPhantomPhandom for reviewing! They really mean the world to me! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **TheYellowNinja: Oh my goodness, you are WAY too kind! Yep, I think art is very therapeutic! Ooh, I never thought about that! I love Captain America and the Winter Soldier! :D Yep, it's a process, but they're working on it :3 Yay! I'm so happy you love the title for the sequel! Aw, and I'm so glad I could make your last day of summer a little happier :D Aw, you get your brother to read my stories?! AND, he thinks they're funny?! That's so nice! Thank you SO SO SO much for your lovely, lovely review :D**

 **Guest: Yep, I definitely feel like both Morro and Lloyd don't like to admit when they're hurt :3 Haha, vague titles are my forte! Aw, I'm glad you thought Morro in a painting class was cute! I don't have a specific date, but I think I will start posting it veeeeery soon! It makes me so so happy to know how excited you are for my updates! And that you like Gem so much :D Aw, and keeping everyone character is VERY important to me, so that means a lot that you think I succeeded! :D Unfortunately, no, Cole does not have his scar. I read on his Ninjago wiki page that he has the scar but he barely got through the Rift of Return in time, while in my story he got through with plenty of time to spare. Sooo, I don't think he should have it, even though I like it :D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Fxreflies: Yep, Lloyd and Morro are working on their relationship, and Jay and Cole are being hams as usual XD Aw, I'm so glad you're excited for Forgotten Memory! (Yes, it is a pun XD) I know! I'm really sad Cartoon Network seems like it wants to get rid of Ninjago when it's so awesome! Oh, and little Wu was SO sassy! XD Haha, it is a slow process (though I won't achieve perfection either way XD) but I hope to post it very very soon! Good luck with school! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro is great at fake flirting but terrible at real flirting. Shout out to ardhoniel. LotRStarWarsNinjago for requesting that Morro falls in love! Also, happy birthday! :D**

* * *

"Kai, move your fat head! I can't see!"

"Well, scoot over! You're breathing down my neck!"

"Lloyd, let me use your telescope!"

"I told you guys to bring your own!"

"Cole broke mine!"

"You left it on the couch! People sit on couches, Jay."

"Can you guys stop arguing for like two seconds so we can get back to the mission?"

The ninja were currently gathered on a rooftop of a three story building in Ninjago City. Lloyd and Nya, the only two ninja who had actually brought a telescope, and Zane, who didn't need one, were watching the door of the building across the street while the others squinted at it as best they could.

The Ninjago City Police had tasked them with a very delicate mission: capture and deliver a mob boss that had been arrested and skipped out on bail. The commissioner was afraid the criminal was going to try to flee the city, but considering he also suspected their were some crooked cops that had been bribed by the mob boss in his employ, he didn't feel comfortable sending a team of his own to retrieve him.

Thus, he had called on the ninja, who had managed to track the mob boss down to one of his many "insurance businesses," which were really a front for his illicit activities.

"Looks like there's only one person guarding the front," Lloyd commented, watching the teenage girl pace nervously in front of the door leading up to the apartment above the insurance office, where the mob boss was holed up. "If we can just get into that apartment, apprehending the target should be pretty simple. But, if she warns him, they'll be waiting for us. Or, get out the back door before we even touch the first step."

Lloyd assessed the situation… but stopped short of outlining the plan. He lowered the telescope, an expression of consternation on his face.

"Why can't we just knock her out?" Nya asked, her tone taking on edge of annoyance. "Like we would any _male_ guard?"

"We're not being sexist, Nya," Jay reassured immediately as he peered over the side of the rooftop at the girl as well. "She's just so young! And, look, she seems miserable. Like she doesn't even want to be here. We can't knock her unconscious like that."

Nya, though apparently willing to accept this line of reasoning, frowned still. "Well, we have to deal with her somehow. Our window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller."

"Perhaps we could lure her away somehow?" Zane suggested. "A distraction of some sort?"

Kai cracked his knuckles, leaning back with a smile on his face. "Say no more. One serving a smooth-talking, coming right up."

Nya was unimpressed. "What, you're going to flirt with her? Sweep her off her feet?"

Kai brushed imaginary dust off his shoulder. "Trust me, sis. No woman can resist Kai when he's pouring on the charm."

"Hey, why should you be the one to flirt with her?" Cole demanded. "I'm the one that actually _needs_ a girlfriend, in case you forgot."

"Cole, the fact that you don't have a girlfriend explains _exactly_ why you shouldn't be the one to flirt with her."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Besides, as far as I know, neither Lloyd nor Morro have significant others either," Zane pointed out, eager to mend the inaccuracy in the conversation rather than share his opinion on who would be the better ladies' man.

Even in the near complete darkness, the others could tell Lloyd was blushing. "We're not here to discuss our love lives! Can we just get back to the mission _please_?"

Kai pushed himself to his feet. "So, it's decided then," he laughed. "Unless Morro wants to take a crack at it."

When no biting remark or otherwise venomous retort came, Kai looked around for the wind master… but he was nowhere to be found.

"Morro?" He asked aloud, as if the former ghost was simply out of sight and would come when called. "Morro? Where the heck did he go?"

At this, the other ninja all glanced around as well, similarly puzzled by the disappearance of their teammate.

"Um… guys?" Nya called as she peered through her telescope. "I think I found him."

The ninja immediately rushed to the edge of the rooftop once again, almost throwing themselves over in their haste to see what Nya was referring to.

And, sure enough, there was Morro strolling down the sidewalk as if on an evening walk on not on a secret mission. He was wearing a hoodie (probably stolen) over his ninja gi, and in the darkness, it seemed like had a perfectly normal outfit on. He seemed to be carrying a beverage of some kind (probably also stolen) as he headed straight for the female sentry.

"Morro!" Lloyd barked into his headset. "What are you _doing_?!"

The wind master, though he would be able to hear Lloyd over his comm, deigned not to respond, just as none of them suspected he would. There was nothing they could do but watch as Morro came up to the girl-

He stumbled. He caught himself… but not before the contents of his cup came splashing out all over the girl.

Her shriek and Morro's horrified gasp could both clearly be heard over the ninja's comms.

"Oh my-" Morro took the sleeve of his hoodie and immediately started wiping at the front of her shirt. "I am _so_ sorry. Geez, I'm such a klutz."

The girl sighed, shaking her head. "No, it's… it's okay. It was just an accident."

"Still, I'm really, _really_ sorry," Morro insisted, still peering at her regretfully. "But, hey, at least it was just water, right?"

The girl offered a little chuckle in response, looking up at him. "Yeah. I guess there are worse things to have spilled on you."

Morro laughed then too. Then, suddenly, he stopped, leaning just a little bit closer to her. "Wow, you have… _really_ pretty eyes."

The girl started, surprised if visibly flattered by the compliment.

Meanwhile, the ninja were busy exchanging shocked and begrudgingly impressed looks with each other as Morro played this girl like a violin.

"Sorry," Morro said, looking away as if embarrassed. "I guess that's a weird thing to hear from the guy who just spilled something on you."

"No, I-" She giggled, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "It wasn't weird."

There was an amicable pause as Morro smiled at her. Then he straightened, as if an idea just suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, you, uh, want to get something to eat? I mean, it's the least I could do. Besides," he held up his empty cup. "I need a new drink anyway."

The girl laughed but glanced nervously at the door behind her. "Well, um, it's just that-"

Morro nodded knowingly, playing a hopeful but ultimately rejected male teen to a tee. "Right, I get it. Well, I hope I see you around. Sorry again."

And, with that, Morro began walking away.

But, the ninja knew this was just another strategy in Morro's arsenal. Sure enough, the girl panicked as her potential soulmate that she had met in a fashion so serendipitous and perfect it was worthy of a romantic comedy walked out of her life.

So, she could stay and guard the door, something she obviously did not want to do… or she could give in to chance and agree to the date.

"Wait!"

She hurried after Morro, who grinned at her once she caught up to him. As the two of them walked away, arm in arm, Morro spared one pointed look at the rooftop the ninja were camped out on, as if to say " _I did the hard part, now don't screw the rest up."_

And, though Lloyd was seething at Morro's freelancing, he had to admit he was right.

* * *

The rest of the mission went off without a hitch. The mob boss was dropped off at the police station before ten PM with several others in his employ as a nice bonus.

When Morro returned to the Destiny's Bounty after his "date," it was to a lecture from Lloyd about "going rogue" and a warning that if he pulled something like that again, he was going to grounded from the next hundred missions. Morro slipped in a few annoyed eye rolls but ultimately agreed to run his ideas by Lloyd before acting on them.

"But, you did good," Lloyd finally admitted with a sigh.

"Yeah, who knew Morro had such a ladies' man in him!" Kai exclaimed, clapping the wind master on the back.

"Please don't tell me you broke that young girl's heart," Nya said disapprovingly, fixing her hands on her hip.

"I _may_ have hinted at some unsettling hobbies," Morro explained with a smirk. "You know, taxidermy, ripping the heads off dolls, all that. Let's just say she conveniently forgot to give me her phone number."

The others laughed and congratulated him once again on the save.

* * *

"Guys, can we _please_ stop to eat? I'm starving!"

"There is a café just up ahead, Cole."

"A café? All cafés have our pastries. I need a pizza or something."

"Ooh, pizza sounds good."

"We _always_ have pizza! Why can't ever go to a classier place?"

Cole, Zane, Kai, and Jay continued to bicker as they crossed one of the busy streets of Ninjago City. The four of them had decided to take advantage of their time in the city, while Nya had stayed behind to work on some robotics project and Lloyd had opted for some quality time with his mom.

And, Morro… Well, Morro had taken to disappearing a lot over the last few days. Although Lloyd nearly had a conniption, Morro had reassured him was only exploring the city as well, taking some alone time to get himself reacquainted with the startlingly sleek and modern city without the distraction or pressure of having the others nearby. He never stayed out for more than a few hours anyway, so Lloyd, while still worried (because that boy never seemed to not be worried), reasserted that he trusted Morro.

"A café is a classy place," Zane mentioned. "And, this particular one has very complimentary reviews."

"You know, Zane, you could just _say_ that you want to go," Kai replied.

The nindroid thought about this for a moment. "Okay. I want to go. I am sure you can find something to sate your appetite, Cole."

Cole grumbled but didn't outright refuse. As the ninja approached the café's door, Jay suddenly jumped about a foot in the air before immediately pressing himself against the store window.

"Guys, look!" He exclaimed, pointing at something inside. "It's Morro!"

The other three ninja squeezed themselves against the window as well, making the couple at the table directly beside the window give them a dirty look. They ignored the glares as their eyes fixated on Morro, sitting at a table on the other side of the room and sipping a cup of coffee. He was by himself, a magazine on the table in front of him, even though he wasn't currently leafing through it.

"Let's go say hi!" Jay suggested, and the other ninja enthusiastically agreed. The four of them struggled to pile through the door at the same time, with a generous amount of elbows and insults thrown in for good measure. Once they were finally inside, though, they headed over to Morro's table. From the way Morro was staring off at something, he seemed not to have noticed them.

"Hey, Morro!" Cole greeted, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder.

Everything after that happened in quick succession. Morro jumped about ten feet in the air, the coffee cup tumbling out of his hand. The lid popped off as soon as the cup hit the table, spilling its contents across the table top. Morro yelped, scrambling to mop up the mess with the napkins from the table side dispenser. He showed extra care to the magazine, that was already wrinkled with moisture and stained brown despite his efforts.

The other four ninja, meanwhile, stood by, shocked. Morro did _not_ scare easily- in fact, this might be the only recorded time in history that they had managed to surprise him- so they weren't quite sure how to react to a jumpy and clearly frazzled Morro.

When Morro had contained the mess and doctored the magazine as best he could, he turned and looked up at the ninja with an expression they could only describe as horrified.

"What are you _doing_ here?" He demanded. They didn't miss the way his eyes darted nervously toward the counter and back.

Zane replied cheerfully, "We were passing by and noticed you in here. We came in to say hi-"

"Hi," Morro interrupted hurriedly, pushing on Kai, who he was closest to, to urge him into motion. "Now, you have to go."

"Woah, woah, woah, what's the rush?" The red ninja asked, planting himself firmly beside Morro's table.

"Yeah, we were planning on eating in here," Jay added, already peering in interest at the glass case displaying the café's varied assortment of pastries.

Morro somehow paled more, shaking his head. "No, no, you guys _cannot_ stay here. You need to go _now_. Right now."

Cole crossed his arms. "Not until you tell us why-"

"How's my favorite customer doing?"

Morro jumped yet again before slowly turning to face the girl that had approached his table.

She clearly worked here, as she was wearing a white blouse and green apron with the café's logo on it. The name tag pinned to her apron read _Bonnie_.

Those weren't her most striking features, though. She sported a blonde pixie cut, her bangs side-swept across her forehead and dyed with purple tips. This was complemented by her bold magenta eyeshadow and dark purple lipstick.

"I noticed you had a bit of a spill," Bonnie continued, wiping down Morro's table with a wet rag. "No worries. I can get you a refill on the house."

"Thanks," Morro said. But, his voice was quieter…, _gentler_ somehow, a tone the other ninja had never heard him use before. In fact, he almost seemed _shy_.

And, then they noticed the very faint blush staining his usually pale cheeks.

Zane, Jay, Cole, and Kai all looked at each other at the same exact moment, sharing their epiphany with each other with an inaudible " _oh_."

Morro had a _crush_.

Bonnie looked up, her dark eyes landing on the other four ninja standing awkwardly nearby, and she raised her eyebrows. "Oh, you brought friends this time. I can move you guys to a fourtop, if you want. Pull up a chair. Or, if you want to wait, one of the bigger booths should open up any second now."

"They're not my friends," Morro explained quickly, shooting the other ninja a glare potent enough to kill a bug. "Actually, they were just _leaving_."

"Are you kidding?" Kai asked, slinging an arm around Morro's neck. To Bonnie, he said, "We're Morro's brothers! He's such a kidder. But, he's a really great guy once you get to know him." Kai complimented, patting Morro's chest.

The wind master shot a panicked look at Kai that said " _what do you think you're doing?"_ as clearly as if he had said it out loud.

"Brothers?" Bonnie asked, raising an eyebrow as her eyes roamed over the five teenage boys that clearly didn't look related, lingering especially on Zane's titanium form, but didn't refute this claim. Instead, she laughed an easy laugh, and Morro, despite his obvious discomfort, couldn't help but smile at the sound of it. "I always wish I had brothers. I just have one lousy older sister."

"Well, Morro's a _great_ brother," Cole stated, catching onto Kai's drift. "He tries to act like he doesn't care, but he secretly does. Like, just the other day, he took out the trash for me."

Cole decided not to mention the fact that Morro only agreed to do it so Cole would owe him a favor at a later date. And maybe it was a habit leftover from his time in the Departed Realm, but Morro _never_ forgot a favor.

"Yeah, and he helped me out with this!" Jay chimed in, holding up his right hand that had been wrapped in gauze. After testing a new invention that had subsequently exploded, Jay had burned his right hand. Morro, who was the only one nearby, had helped him bandage it, though he made sure to tell Jay what an idiot he was while he was doing so. "He's really a big softie at heart."

"Morro puts a herculean effort into all of his relationships and his own personal growth," Zane reinforced earnestly with a smile. "And, I think he is a wonderful person."

Bonnie, maybe unsure of how to proceed after receiving all this unwarranted information but not overall weirded out, offered a little, amused smile.

Morro, meanwhile, had taken on the hue of a tomato and looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.

"Well, I already knew _that_ ," Bonnie finally said with a laugh. "I mean, he comes to visit me every day and makes my life a little less boring."

The ninja turned to Morro in shock, finally putting together the fact that _this_ had been where he had been disappearing to the past few days.

"Sorry, but we have to go," Morro declared suddenly, standing up. Of course, Kai had still had his arm around his shoulders, so the action was a bit of a struggle. In his haste to disentangle himself from Kai and the table, though, his foot got caught on the chair leg… and he went tumbling to the ground, hitting the floor face first.

Before any of the ninja or Bonnie could decide to help him up or not, Morro had hopped back to his feet, the blush blooming across his cheeks in an even more brilliant shade of red the only indication that he had fallen.

"I, um, I-" He stammered, obviously looking for some escape route. Bonnie only continued to smile at him with that amused but friendly smile. "Um… sorry. Anyway..., bye."

And with that, Morro turned on his heel and marched determinedly out of the café without looking back even once.

The other ninja offered Bonnie equally as awkward goodbyes before hurrying after their brother.

"Wow, that was… painful," Cole commented as they caught up to Morro who was stomping so violently down the street, they were surprised he wasn't leaving indents in the sidewalk.

"What happened, Morro?" Kai asked. "We were talking you up! We set you up for a slam dunk!"

"What happened?" Morro repeated incredulously. " _What happened?!_ What happened is that you guys are the most embarrassing people on the planet! I mean, I've never _been_ more humiliated! Why do you think I wanted you to leave in the first place?!"

"We were just trying to help," Jay defended, hurt bleeding into his tone. "Besides, what happened with you? I mean, the way you smooth talked that girl the other day, I thought you were some sort of love doctor! Going to the café where the girl you like works and silently pining after her is more like something _I_ would do."

"That was _different_!" Morro insisted, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "That was fake. This is… This is _real_!"

"So, you are in need of advice on how to proceed?" Zane asked.

"Don't worry, Morro," Kai cut in before Morro could respond. "Lucky for you, the _real_ love doctor is in."

"Um, considering how you acted like a complete idiot around Skylor when you first met her, I don't think you have any room to give love advice," Cole pointed out.

Kai pressed his lips into an unimpressed line. "And, exactly how many dates have _you_ gone on, Mr. Single?"

"I'm saving myself for the right person!" Cole insisted, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Need I remind you that I'm the one with an actual steady girlfriend?" Jay pointed out smugly. "That I've had for way longer than you've had Skylor?"

"Actually, Jay, you did not solidify your relationship with Nya until very recently," Zane countered. "Meanwhile, I have been in a relationship with Pixal since before we met Skylor. Using that criteria, I am the most suited to advise Morro about his romantic endeavors."

"Not all of us can have a nindroid girlfriend that's perfectly compatible with us," Cole snapped, apparently still bitter about Kai's "single" comment.

"Alright, alright, why don't we just let Morro decide?" Kai suggested, gesturing to the former ghost who was still stomping ahead of them. By this time, they had passed into Ninjago City Park, and yet the green grass and chirping birds seemed to do nothing to buoy Morro's mood. "So, Morro, would you like advice from _me_ , hopelessly awkward Jay, socially inept Zane, or endlessly single Cole?"

This was met with an insulted " _hey_!" from the other three ninja.

Before they could attack Kai or disprove his analysis, though, Morro answered. "No one."

"Don't believe Kai. I've had _plenty_ of success with Nya," Jay said, quick to defend his reputation.

"And, I know a lot about girls!" Cole asserted, though he sounded more like he was trying to convince the others this was true rather than explain why he was the best candidate for advising Morro.

"I can generate hundreds of scenarios and help you formulate the correct the response to every one," Zane pointed out, his competitiveness getting the better of him. "You will never again be caught unawares as you were just now."

"No, it's not because of that," Morro rolled his eyes. "Frankly, I think all of you are equally incompetent when it comes to romance."

This time, all four ninja shouted in perfect unison, " _Hey_!"

"It's because…," Morro sighed, slowly coming to a stop. He allowed himself to sink to the ground in a relatively clear spot of the park before collapsing onto his back, staring at the defiantly blue sky with a forlorn expression.

The ninja shared amused looks. Considering Morro's default mood was "grumpy," this rather animated response to his situation was a refreshing change of pace.

"You've really got it bad, huh?" Kai asked only semi-teasingly as he and the other ninja sat cross-legged on the ground around their teammate.

"What is the issue, Morro?" Zane asked as he pulled a dandelion out of the ground.

Morro groaned, pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes. " _Ugh_ … You guys keep telling me I need to be honest, right?" He threw his hands up into the air in a show of desperation before lowering them back to the ground in defeat. "Well, how can I be honest with her? Say, 'hi, I'm Morro. I was a ghost until recently, and I possessed the Green Ninja, orchestrated a devastating ghost invasion, and almost destroyed the world as you know it. Wanna go out with me?'"

He laughed a short, humorless laugh. "Yeah, that'll go over real well."

The ninja couldn't help but grimace at that. It was true; Morro's rocky relationship with moral right and wrong was an obstacle that couldn't just be ignored.

"Morro, it's important to be honest with her," Jay began, laughing nervously as he remembered his own tenuous loyalty to the truth. "Buuut, I don't think it's wrong to… not _start_ with that. You know, go on a few dates with her, see if you think it could be something more, and if you do, then tell her what you did- the bad but also all the good you've done since then."

"It might scare her off," Kai warned him. "It might scare a lot of girls off. I think it'll probably scare _most_ girls off-"

Zane clapped a hand over Kai's mouth. "But, I believe that there is one perfect person out there for everyone- a soulmate, if you will. And, when you find her, she will not be scared of you. She will love you in spite of your flaws- _because_ of them- because that is what love is."

Morro was peering up at them suspiciously, as if he didn't quite believe them- when Cole grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands and stood, pulling Morro to his feet in one fluid motion.

"The important thing is to never quit!" Cole announced. He smoothed down Morro's wrinkled shirt before bodily turning him around and giving him a small shove in the direction from which they came. "So, go ask Bonnie out! Remember, be confident- like she's already said yes."

"Wha- _now_?!" Morro demanded as he stumbled. "After you guys made a complete fool out of me in there?!"

"Hey, if she still says yes after all of _that_ , then you know it's real," Jay pointed out optimistically.

"Jay has experience with still getting a date after making a fool out of himself," Kai snickered, receiving a punch in the arm from the blue ninja for his trouble.

Morro still hesitated, shifting his weight.

Zane cocked his head as he analyzed Morro's nervous behavior. "Would you like us to come with you, Morro? As moral support?"

Morro glanced down at Zane before giving an exaggerated shrug. "I mean, if you want to."

Which was Morro's indirect way of saying, " _yes, please_."

The other four ninja eagerly agreed and rapidly conveyed Morro to the café, possibly more excited about the prospect of Morro successfully getting a date than Morro was.

Just outside the shop, the ninja gave Morro their departing pep talks.

"Make sure to give her a compliment! Girls _love_ getting compliments," Jay suggested.

"But, be sincere! Don't make something up; girls can spot insincerity a mile away," Cole added.

"Be sure to smile. You have a lovely smile. I don't know why you don't smile more often," Zane criticized, smoothing down Morro's shirt once again, even though the effort was futile.

"Okay, remember. You've _got_ this. Now go." Kai reassured, pushing Morro toward the door. "Wait, you've got grass in your hair!" He brushed the stray blades of grass out of Morro's hair. "Okay, _now_ go."

"Okay…," Morro trailed off. Glancing over his shoulder, he glared at the other four ninja. "But, don't watch. You'll make me nervous if you watch."

"Of _course_ we won't watch," Kai said as if that were the most ridiculous suggestion in the world, waving his hand away to express the depth of its ridiculousness. "Who do you take us for?"

Morro hummed disbelievingly, but obediently entered the café.

The second he was inside, Zane, Cole, Jay, and Kai rushed in as well, immediately claiming a booth and a handful of menus so they could, against his wishes, watch Morro ask Bonnie out. Of course, the four of them all tried to crowd into the same side of the booth so they could all have an equal vantage point, leaving Jay mostly in Zane's lap and Kai crushed between the massiveness of Cole and the wall. But, they did fit and had a clear view of Morro pulling Bonnie aside, coffee pot still in her hand.

"What's he saying? What's he saying?" Jay whispered, squinting over the top of his menu as the conversation played out.

"Maybe if you weren't _talking_ we could hear, Jay," Cole hissed back.

"Look, she's smiling. She's totally saying yes," Kai cheered quietly.

"No, an odd expression passed over Morro's face. I think he has been rejected and is only recovering well," Zane argued, struggling to maintain his seat on the booth as Jay slowly but surely pushed him off.

Finally, Morro and Bonnie parted ways, the former offering a little wave and the latter reciprocating the wave before disappearing into the kitchen.

The ninja tried to hide behind their menus as the wind master approached their table, but Morro stopped directly beside them and said, "Okay, it's over now. Thanks for _not_ watching like I asked you to."

The four ninja, not remorseful in the slightest, poured out of the booth and crowded around Morro. "What'd she say? What'd she say? What'd she say?"

Morro smirked, walking toward the door of the café as the ninja trailed after him, trembling with anticipation.

"Ah… she said no."

They gasped simultaneously.

"Oh, geez… We're sorry, Morro," Kai told him apologetically.

"Eh, it's okay. It's not because she didn't like me, but because she's taken."

Jay's mouth formed an 'o' of realization. "Ooh, she already has a boyfriend?"

Morro laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "More like she already has a girlfriend."

The other ninja's eyebrows shot up with surprise… before they started laughing as well.

"Don't worry, Morro," Cole reassured, wrapping his arm around his brother's shoulders. "There are plenty of fish in the sea."

"Yeah, and I think Cole needs the most help reeling one in," Kai snarked, earning laughter from everyone but Cole.

The black ninja turned to Kai with a murderous glare. Kai got the hint and immediately started running, and Cole, hot on his heels, yelled, " _I am single by choice_!"

"Hey, at least you're not the guy running all over Ninjago City screaming that he's single," Jay joked, nudging Morro.

"I meant what I said earlier, Morro." Zane reiterated, patting Morro's shoulder. "You are a wonderful person and the girl who recognizes that will be very lucky indeed."

Morro flashed a bashful glance at the nindroid before laughing. "Eh, if you say so."

Which was Morro's indirect way of saying, " _thanks_."

* * *

 **So, yes, this oneshot was more or less of an excuse to have Jay, Cole, Kai, and Zane argue about romance while throwing in a good amount of teasing and a healthy dose of fluff XD I quite like how this one came out, so I hope you guys liked it! :D Don't worry, Jay, Cole, Kai, and Zane will all get their individual chapters eventually! :D**

 **As I mentioned in a few review replies, I am hoping to start posting Forgotten Memory very soon! Ugh, I'm honestly pretty nervous to post it (and it's not *quite* finished yet- I actually still have a lot to write ^-^;) so we will see!**

 **And, as always, please leave your requests/suggestions, as they power me with *inspiration!* Thank you so much for taking the time to read!**


	7. Real

**Hello, everyone! Sooo... a few things to clarify with this chapter! :D**

 **1\. Once again, all of these oneshots so far would *technically* take place before Forgotten Memory, but none of them will actually be referenced IN Forgotten Memory.**

 **2\. In this universe, Pixal is not inside Zane's head. Sooo, to explain WHERE she is, I just made it so Cyrus Borg made her a new body after they got back from Chen's island, aaaand she basically lives and works at Borg Industries for now but visits and helps the ninja out a lot of the time. :D (Which is mentioned in the chapter.)**

 **3\. This chapter... is very different from the earlier chapters and prooobably very different from pretty much everything else I've written. It's a little odd in its style and content, but I actually like it A LOT so I really hope you guys enjoy it too! :D**

 **Special thanks to: TheKittenQueen, FirstFandomFangirl, ABCSKW123-IX, RandomDragon2.0, thefiresensai, GameCubeGirl1, ardhoniel. LotRStarWarsNinjago, Katla1, Inimidesert, FullMetalPon-3, Peanut2196, TheYellowNinja, Plumcicle, Guest, DannyPhantomPhandom, PrairieSkies, Fxreflies, LeUltimateNerd, A Huge Fangirl, tamagogo, and KyraPlays for reviewing! I love you all! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **TheYellowNinja: Haha, I'm glad the idea of Morro having a crush made you giggle, because it certainly made me giggle! XD Of course the ninja have to argue everywhere they go, especially with as hot a topic as their love lives! I am SO happy you enjoyed it so much! I hope you like this chapter as well! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Plumcicle: "Adorable" was exactly what I was aiming for! XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Guest: Haha, Cole definitely needs a girlfriend! You can imagine this happening?! That is a HUGE compliment! :D Ooh, those are good suggestions! I will definitely keep those in mind! :D We are getting closer to finding out why the ninja would go to the Departed Realm in Forgotten Memory ;D I'm hesitant to name a "main" character since everyone has some sort of focus, so you'll just have to decide that for yourself ;D And, we'll eventually find out what the title means ;D (Wow, that's a lot of winky faces XD) Thank you sooooo much for all your amazingly kind compliments! They really make my day! :D**

 **tamagogo: Thank you so much for saying I nail the brotherly dynamic! That is, after all, one of the best parts of the show :D Haha, I know! Cole really needs a girlfriend! I think I would definitely like it if they introduced Seliel in the show, but, for now, Cole will just have to eat his cake XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro and Pixal are basically BFFs! :D Shout out to KyraPlays for this AWESOME suggestion! I really hope you like it! :D**

* * *

When Pixal met Morro for the first time, she wasn't impressed.

She had been sitting at the kitchen table with Zane as they animatedly discussed the latest upgrade Cyrus Borg had been working on for her, when Morro ambled into the room with barely a glance at them. She recognized him instantly; if anything, the green streak in his hair was a dead giveaway. Even though Zane had told her all about their adventures in the Departed Realm and Morro's redemption, Pixal couldn't help the way she stiffened as he passed her on the way to the fridge.

Although she trusted Zane's judgment, the only physical data on Morro she possessed suggested he was ruthless, cruel, conniving, and above all, a criminal. Zane might have been too kind-hearted to demand recourse for those crimes, but Pixal was not so quick to forgive.

"Morro!" Zane called jovially. "I don't believe you two have been introduced. Pixal, this is Morro. Morro, this is Pixal. Her name stands for Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Lifeform."

Morro turned to peer at her with half-lidded eyes, only for them to widen as he did a double take.

"Woah, you're a robot too?" He asked with a smirk, and Pixal got the distinct sense he was laughing at her. "Like, a girl one?"

Pixal huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I prefer the term android. 'Robot' does not imply being artificially intelligent."

Morro held his hands up with a laugh. "Wow, didn't mean to offend. Back when I was a kid, I didn't have to worry about being- ahem- 'politically correct' all the time."

He waved his hand in front of her face, as one would do when trying to determine if someone is conscious or alert. "So, you're like Zane? You can think and feel and stuff?"

"Yes," She snapped, leaning away from his hand. Morro was unperturbed by her tone and body language; he only continued to inspect her, looking her up and down. "I can think and feel 'and stuff.'"

"Pixal is a vital part of the team," Zane elaborated, reaching across the table to take her hand in his, interlocking their fingers. Pixal could have sworn her internal circuit boards fried when Zane aimed that gentle, loving smile at her. "We are… compatible."

"Ah," Morro said knowingly as his eyes fell on their interlocked hands. He nodded approvingly, but Pixal almost scoffed. As if she needed _his_ approval. "I see. Well, I'll leave you two to it then."

He headed toward the kitchen door with his original goal, a bottle of water, in hand.

He threw over his shoulder, "See you around, Pix."

Pixal gritted her teeth. Very few people were allowed to call her Pix, and Morro was definitely not one of them.

* * *

The second time she met Morro, though, she felt as if she was seeing him for the first time.

It was Game Night on the Destiny's Bounty, a marathon of board games, video games, stupid bets, and snack foods. Though this was Pixal's fourth, this was Morro's first, and the first time Pixal had "hung out" with Morro in the traditional sense.

And, as was her inherent nature, she noticed quite a few things about him.

First of all, he was mostly quiet, like her. Not to say he was shy; he had the sharpest wit she had ever witnessed, delivering perfectly timed wisecracks with a wryness and precision that made even the target of the gibe laugh out loud.

But, for the most part, Morro seemed content to lean against the back of the couch, sipping his drink with a little private smirk, as if he knew something no one else did, while Jay rambled and Kai bragged and Cole complained about the chip bowl running low.

It was in this way that Pixal felt a certain… connection to him.

It wasn't that she disliked Game Night. It was just that… being around all the ninja at once was… hard. Now, she loved Zane- Zane was the one that had transformed love from a definition into an emotion, a mind set, a state of _being_ for her- and always the time she treasured most in her existence would be the time she spent with him. When they were alone, he was the other half of her heart and she was the other half of his and together they were whole.

But, when they were with the rest of the ninja… it was different. She was his soulmate, but they were his _family_. Zane would despair at the thought of her ever feeling left out, but with six members of a family and one… well, _outsider_ , for lack of a better word, it was almost impossible to completely avoid inside jokes, reminiscing about the adventures she hadn't gone on, or somehow using that silent communication that went right over her head no matter how hard she listened.

Cyrus Borg had built her a new body as soon as they had returned from Chen's island, but sometimes she felt as if she was still trapped in Zane's head, unable to reach out, unable to be heard, overlooked not through malicious intent but rather innocent oversight, which was somehow worse, in a way.

So, she had resigned herself to attending the Game Nights to appease Zane and be near the rest of her friends if not truly a _part_ of them. She never thought she would find a kindred spirit there.

But, throughout the night, her gaze was inevitably drawn back to Morro again and again. Neither of them laughed at the same jokes everyone else did. Neither of them found quite the same amount of joy in Jay's colorful retelling of the time they had fought Samurai X in the Slither Pit, not knowing at the time that they were really fighting Nya, as the others did. Neither of them could decipher the non-verbal looks Jay and Cole shared until after they had already tackled Kai and Zane, even though both victims had braced themselves for an attack as if they had been warned seconds beforehand.

She was not a part of the ninja, really, and it seemed that Morro, who had been revived less than month ago, was not really a part of them either- or, at least, not yet- and she wasn't sure how to reconcile this commonality she had found between them with the archival footage she had of a ghostly Morro terrorizing Stiix.

She also found out, though, that Morro was much more perceptive than she had given him credit for.

"Take a picture, Pix," he told her with a wink as he stood up to refill his drink. "It'll last longer."

And, that's when she realized Morro had caught her staring at him throughout the night.

She was too busy being grateful that nindroids couldn't blush to snap at his retreating back that it was Pixal, not Pix, to him.

* * *

The third time she met Morro, it was completely by accident.

She had arrived on the Destiny's Bounty to spend the day with Zane, only to receive a frantic phone call from the ice ninja saying that, due to unforeseen circumstances, he and some of the other ninja were late in returning to the ship from Ninjago City, and that he was bringing her a bouquet of flowers to make up for his tardiness.

With an affectionate laugh, she assured him that she didn't mind at all and insisted he take his time. She wandered into the living room to wait… and saw Morro already seated on the living room sofa, flipping disinterestedly through the TV channels.

He looked up when she entered the room. "Oh. Hey. What's up?"

Pixal pressed her mouth in a line, debating how to respond. Her artificially intelligent mind was trying to cobble together a coherent response from the overload of contradictory information- Morro was an evil ghost, Morro was a reformed human, Morro's personality was rather abrasive and callous, Morro appeared to be left out in the same way she was on Game Night…

Until finally she settled on the ever eloquent, "I am doing well."

After a beat, she added, "And, yourself?"

Morro shrugged, turning back to the TV. "Can't complain."

Pixal nodded, once again attempting to calculate her next move. Had it been any other ninja sitting on the couch, she would have joined them on the sofa, chatting amicably or watching the TV in comfortable silence together.

But, this was _Morro_ they were talking about.

And yet, leaving to wait in the kitchen or Zane's bedroom seemed to too obviously telegraph her uncomfortableness with the situation, and so would only come across as rude.

Pixal internally groaned. Sometimes she missed being free of the sensitivity to social pressures; being an oblivious nindroid did have some perks.

To delay having to make a final decision, she announced, "I'm going to get a glass of water." Morro didn't respond, so Pixal simply took it as her cue to leave.

She was very deliberate with her movements in the kitchen, slowly selecting a glass and purposely turning the faucet on so only a drizzle came out instead of a stream.

As she did so, though, she thought about Morro.

The way that, on Game Night, his dark eyes had roamed around the room, silently taking in information in the same way she did. The little knowing smirk that made him look carefree, even though she could see the vulnerability just beyond it, the type of vulnerability that could only be recognized by itself. The way he had walls all around him, making him just as present and alive and _there_ as everyone else, and yet still _separate_. Like her.

These thoughts were still swirling around in her head, scrabbling to find purchase in her mind, when she reentered the living room, where Morro was continuing to flick through channel after channel.

"Do you ever feel like everyone else is… more _real_ than you?"

Pixal almost couldn't believe she had blurted that out. She was a nindroid- not prone to blurting- and yet the words had already been out in the open before she'd even registered the fact that she wanted to say them.

She expected Morro to scoff or at least give her a perfectly blank look, as would have been a normal response to such a vague and nonsensical question.

Instead, Morro turned and gaped at her, as if seeing _her_ for the first time. And, like she had sensed innately that Morro was a kindred spirit on Game Night, now she was certain that Morro knew _exactly_ what she meant.

"Like… Like you're watching a play," Morro replied slowly, watching her face carefully. He cringed slightly, as if embarrassed by his somewhat anachronistic analogy. "Or, uh, TV show, I guess. You know, where everyone else knows their lines, but you're just… in the audience."

Pixal hurried around the couch so she could sit beside him instead, excitement rising in her chest. "Like they already know, but you have to _learn_ how to be…"

Morro smirked as he looked her up and down again, but this time she knew he wasn't laughing at her.

"Human," he finished.

Because it went beyond just feeling left out on Game Night. It was looking back on her life and realizing she had been utterly blind at the exact moment when she thought she could see everything. The moment Zane had given her half his heart, she understood that when he proclaimed that he stood for "peace, freedom, and courage," they were not just the words of a peculiar, outdated android, but things worth fighting for, things worth _dying_ for.

And now, she knew it was Morro, realizing that he had been blind when he possessed Lloyd and could only see after that same boy he had terrorized had offered him a place as his brother.

Zane was a nindroid like her, and yet he had been human far longer than either Pixal or Morro had.

Pixal held Morro's gaze for a long moment, with… _something_ passing between them. It certainly wasn't romantic- she and Zane were each other's for forever- but… but some sort of… understanding. Sameness. Being a _part_ of something, in the way that the ninja were a part of each other.

They both jumped when the door slammed open.

"Pixal!" Zane exclaimed, rushing into the room with an obscenely huge bouquet of violets clasped in his hands. "I am so sorry, Pixal! I fully intended to be here with plenty of time to spare, but there was a hold up and Kai had to find a bathroom and-"

"You know I don't mind, Zane," Pixal laughed. "In fact, I was having a lovely conversation with Morro here."

Zane's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, having apparently picked up on Pixal's earlier coldness toward Morro.

Pixal glanced at the wind master, who was calmly watching the scene with an amused expression.

To Zane, she said, "Thank you so much for the flowers, Zane, though you know they were unnecessary."

Zane shook his head with a fond smile. "Gifts are unnecessary. That is what makes them worth giving." He turned toward the kitchen. "I will go put these in water."

Once Pixal and Morro were alone again, the former ghost pushed himself to his feet. "Well, see you later, Pix."

"Why do you call me that?" Pixal finally demanded, though her tone was much more kind than it would have been before. "My name is Pixal."

Morro cocked his head, thinking. "Pixal is an acronym. Pix is a name. I guess it makes you more…"

He smirked.

"Real."

* * *

"What about-"

"It is my turn, Morro. And, I think you knew that."

"Fine," Morro grumbled, blowing a strand of hair out of his face from where he was laying spread eagle on the floor of his bedroom. "Ask away."

"Hm…" Pixal tapped her chin with a teasing smirk, purposely trying Morro's patience. She and Morro had hung out many times since their mutual revelation, and by now she knew him well enough to know how far push it before he _really_ became irritated.

She also knew him well enough to know his partiality to neatness, and so she felt appropriately honored to be allowed to sit on his immaculately made bed, her knees drawn up to her chest as she peered down at the wind master.

"What about…" she trailed her fingers along the dark green fabric, averting her eyes. "What about good and evil?"

Pixal hesitantly raised her eyes to Morro's face once again as he pondered his answer. He furrowed his brow, glaring at the ceiling fan in consternation.

"Evil is feeling like the world owes you something," Morro finally asserted. "Good is feeling like you owe something to the world."

Pixal hummed as she processed that claim, weighing its merits and shortcomings, before ultimately nodding in acceptance. She probably could have asked these vague, completely abstract and opinion-based questions to Zane as well, but...

In her mind, Zane was perfect, or as close to perfection as was possible. He was simply just and kind and _good_ , his soul as white as his gi. To him, good was good and evil was evil. Pixal wanted that same understanding- to be as good and human and _real_ as he was- and so she tried to find her way out of the shades of gray with someone else who found themselves trapped there too.

"What about love?"

Pixal blinked in surprise. That, she had not expected from him.

"How do you know when you have it?" Morro continued. "And… how do you know when you're worth it?"

Pixal peered up at the ceiling fan as well, her eyesight automatically adjusting as she squinted into the light.

"I think love is certainty," Pixal stated, allowing a bashful smile to touch her lips as she imagined Zane there next to her and the completely illogical feeling that welled up within her when he was near. "Certainty that the other person is there for you. Certainty that they will never really leave you.

"You know it when you have it," she said softly, smiling down gently at Morro. "Even when you try to convince yourself that it is not love, even when you try to deny its very existence or the possibility that it could ever exist, it is there. And, Morro," he looked over at her. " _Everyone_ is worthy of love."

Morro raised a challenging eyebrow at her. "What about loving yourself?"

Pixal paused at that. Because she had to wonder… _did_ she love herself? She supposed that, following logic, if love was certainty and she was not certain that she loved herself, then she couldn't possibly love herself. Because, how could she love herself when she wasn't sure if she could ever be _real_ , as real as Zane or as real as Zane made her feel or as real as the girl with green eyes and tan skin and a heartbeat that she imagined when she looked into the mirror?

Slowly, she spoke. "I think… I think loving yourself is the hardest thing of all. Because loving something is what makes it real, so you cannot be real without it." Morro looked up at her with those wide, dark eyes, but Pixal continued. "Maybe that is what life is about. Realizing that you are worth your own love."

Morro held her gaze for a few moments longer before returning his eyes to the ceiling. Pixal decided, even though it was technically her turn, to save her next question for later. They sat quietly, in a silence that many others would feel uncomfortable in, and yet it was just as valuable to them as the puzzles they were constantly trying to solve.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door before it swung open.

Cole stepped in, "Hey, Morro-" He stopped, his eyebrows shooting up with surprise when he spotted Pixal sitting on Morro's green comforter. "Oh! Um, hey, Pixal. I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, we were just talking," Morro explained, sitting up as Pixal waved politely at Cole. "What did you want?"

Instead of answering, Cole looked back and forth between them with a little smirk on his face, as if trying not to laugh.

"What?" Morro asked, sharing a confused look with Pixal.

"It's just funny that you two are, like, BFFs, apparently," Cole explained, shaking his head in amusement. "I mean… you're from the past, she's from the future. You're like way older than you look, she's way younger. You barely know how to work the microwave, Morro, and yet you're best friends with one of the most advanced pieces of technology on the planet." Cole laughed. "You know, it shouldn't work."

Pixal and Morro looked at each other once again. The nindroid giggled, and the former ghost cracked a smile at the sound.

"Call us unconventional," Morro shrugged. "So, what did you come in here for?"

"Oh, we were just going to play some video games and wondering if you wanted to join."

Morro didn't answer immediately, but Pixal, not wanting to put him in a tough spot, pushed herself to the edge of the bed and stood up. "No worries. I need to go help Mr. Borg with some work anyway."

Morro stood up as well, studying her for a moment as if gauging her sincerity, before nodding at Cole. "Okay, be there in a second."

Cole nodded back, closing the door behind him as he went to go wrestle Jay for the right to be first player.

"You sure?" He asked her. "You can stay, you know."

Pixal smiled fondly at her "unconventional BFF." Even now, he was going to play games with the other ninja, slowly making his way over the barrier into that family- that _realness_ \- that Pixal could never seem to cross. She dreaded a day when he would be a _part_ of them, leaving Pixal alone in her separateness, peering through a one-way window into a room she could never step foot in no matter how hard she tried.

Impulsively, she stepped forward into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, I am sure," she said with a sigh. "Goodbye, Morro."

Morro returned the embrace with a brief squeeze. "Um, bye, Pix."

Pixal released him with another sigh. As he headed out of the room, though, Morro paused in the doorway, turning back to look at her.

"About what you said earlier…," Morro trailed off, drumming his fingers on the doorjamb. "When I call you Pix, it means you're real to me."

Pixal was still sorting through all she had said as she passed onto the Destiny's Bounty's deck, trying to find the particular thing Morro was referring to. It wasn't until she was already off the ship, heading back toward Ninjago City, that she found it, and she smiled to herself.

If loving something was what made it real, then Morro was very real to her too.

* * *

 **And, that concludes the first ever Morro and Pixal friendship fic! (At least, I think so! Feel free to correct me if there's an earlier story featuring the two of them XD)**

 **So... yeah, I know this chapter was a little bit "out there," but I had a TON of fun writing Pixal for the VERY first time EVER, so I hope you guys enjoyed it too! :D**

 **Have an absolutely wonderful day! :D**


	8. Drown

**Two updates in one weekend?! Haha, yep! I was super inspired for this chapter (staying up late at night to work on it!) so I hope you guys like it too! :D**

 **Special thanks to: FirstFandomFangirl, TheKittenQueen, KrazyKittyKat3, RandomDragon2.0, Katla1, ardhoniel. LotRStarWarsNinjago, thefiresensei, Peanut2196, GwenBrightly, GameCubeGirl1, Inimidesert, Wolfjem, ColeLoverGirl, TheYellowNinja, DarkRed101, Fxreflies, silverTimeTwin, DannyPhantomPhandom, and Perosn for reviewing! I love you all! :D**

 **I promise I'll get around to replying to reviews! I'm still working on replying to Forgotten Memory reviews -_-; I'm going to be *pretty* busy this weekend, but I PROMISE I will reply eventually because I appreciate each and every one of them! Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your day to let me know how I'm doing! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **ColeLoverGirl: "A tear of happiness?!" I cannot TELL you how happy that made me to read! :D Haha, yeah, there's a little bit of my philosophical side shining through XD But, I think that's a pretty good meaning of life :D Ooh, I hope school and drama club are going well! Thank you for being so sweet! It really touched me to read this :D Also, YES! Your suggestion of Dareth inspired me SO MUCH and I already have the basic plot worked out for that chapter! If not the next chapter, it will be along very soon ;D Thank you so much for reviewing and leaving this FABULOUS suggestion! :D**

 **TheYellowNinja: Yay! I'm so happy you think their relationship makes sense! I love Pixal a lot, so I had a ton of fun writing her :3 I am SO happy you liked the style. Since this is a oneshot series, I like to explore with different styles from time to time, so I'm just really glad you liked it! :D AND, you got exactly what I was going for! The chapter is purposely a bit confusing to showcase Morro and Pixal's own confusion about their identities, etc., so I am OVER THE MOON that that shined through for you! :D :D :D Thank you so much for always leaving such wonderful and encouraging reviews :D**

 **Perosn: Aw, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I love the "unconventional BFFs" too (obviously XD) Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro is still nervous around water. Shout outs at the bottom because there are a lot of them! :D**

* * *

"I hate the beach."

This statement would have been awarded more shock if Morro hadn't been repeating it every fifteen minutes or so on the entire two and a half hour car trip.

"Fine, I'll bite," Cole relented as he dragged the incredibly heavy cooler out of the trunk of the car. " _Why_ do you hate the beach, Morro?"

"What's there to like about it?" Morro groused, crossing his arms over his green tank top. He had been grumpy pretty much since the ninja had been offered a day at a private beach as a show of gratitude for all they do. His sour mood had persisted during Kai's (forced) shopping trip to buy a bathing suit for him and had culminated in the aforementioned road trip.

Morro continued, "Sand gets everywhere, it's hot, it's too bright, there are _sharks_ …," He raised an eyebrow at Cole. "Need I go on?"

"C'mon, Morro, at least _try_ to have fun," Kai encouraged, throwing an arm around Morro's neck while he tried to juggle everyone's towels in the other arm. "Besides, you could use a tan. You still have that ghostly paleness."

"I can't tan," Morro countered. "I just burn."

"You can help me build my sand castle!" Jay offered, holding up his shovel and pail triumphantly, hopping from blue flip flop to blue flip flop as he waited for the others to finish unloading the car so he could start on his masterpiece. "It's going to be the most amazing sand castle the world has ever seen!"

"That's stupid."

Jay gasped. "Well! We'll see who looks stupid after my sand _palace_ is complete!"

"Probably still you."

"What about swimming?" Nya asked, adjusting her sunglasses. "I can use my elemental powers to make some waves."

"Swimming in salt water? With _fish_?" Morro clarified incredulously. "Ew. You just feel slimy when you get out. No thanks."

"Fine, if you want to be a grump, that's your choice," Lloyd said haughtily, passing by and bumping Morro with the beach ball not-so-accidentally. Morro responded by flicking the stupid green sun hat off his head.

"The rest of us are going to have _fun_ ," Lloyd reinforced, stooping to pick up his violated hat. "Whether you like it or not."

"Hmph."

"Without further ado," Zane began excitedly. "Let's go! As they say, 'the surf is up!'"

The others laughed at Zane's innocent nindroidness as they hurried after him toward the coastline… and Morro trudged along behind them, already cursing the sun as it seared his fair skin.

* * *

Jay, true to his word, began work on, quote, 'the most marvelous sand castle in existence,' complete with architectural precision. Nya oscillated between helping him out and swimming in the ocean, where Lloyd was peacefully floating, his arms behind his head and a pensive gaze pointed toward the sky.

That is, until Cole and Kai splashed him during their wrestling match taking place in the shallowest part of the water, inevitably drawing him into the fight. Jay yelled at them frantically to take their horseplay _far_ away from his sand castle, and they reluctantly complied.

Zane, eager to observe the marine life, had walked into the ocean and… stayed there. In fact, no one had seen him surface for at least the past twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, Morro was sullenly lying on his stomach on his beach towel, playing on his phone and blatantly _not_ participating in even remotely beach-related activities.

And, since Kai, Cole, and Lloyd were not allowed to antagonize Jay at the risk of getting electrocuted, no one would dare bother Nya in the middle of the _ocean_ , and Zane was nowhere to be found, that left only one target for their roughhousing.

Cole raised a finger to his lips while using the other hand to point silently at Morro, who was facing away from the ocean and, by extension, the group of mischievous ninja. Kai and Lloyd shared huge grins and nodded enthusiastically.

They crept as silently as possible in the sand toward the unsuspecting wind master absorbed in his cell phone. Regardless, when they were all but leaning over him, he glared over his shoulder at them and snapped, "What do you want?"

In response, Cole shouted, "Get him!"

The three ninja pounced, Cole and Lloyd both grabbing an arm and causing Morro's phone to slip out of his hand. Kai wrestled Morro's legs into submission, lifting him off the ground altogether.

"Hey!" Morro shouted, struggling to escape the three ninja, bucking and jerking to try to wriggle out of their grasp. His foot nearly connected solidly with Kai's jaw before the red ninja was able to tuck his ankle back under his arm. " _Hey_! Put me down!"

"C'mon, Morro!" Cole called back teasingly over Morro's protests. "You're going to have fun if it kills you!"

"Just let it happen, bro!" Kai called as he led the charge toward the ocean where they were going to toss him in.

"No!" Morro yelled back, his eyes widening as he saw the water looming closer. "Stop it!"

Lloyd laughed in response as they came right up to the water's edge. "Stop being such a-"

"No! Stop it! _Stop it_! It's not funny, guys!" Morro shouted, sheer terror the likes they had never heard from him before bleeding into his tone. His struggling renewed itself, taking on the strength of death throes and frankly shocking the other ninja with the intensity with which he was panicking. "I'm serious! Put me _down_!"

The three ninja stopped, hearing the very real fear in Morro's voice, and obediently released him, lowering him to the ground. Morro immediately scrambled backward, away from the tide slowly but surely reaching toward him.

Lloyd glanced at his two brothers. "Morro, we didn't mean-"

"It's _fine_ ," Morro snapped, pushing himself to his feet and immediately turning his back on them, trying to hide his utter humiliation.

Kai rubbed his arm nervously. "Morro, we're so-"

"I said, _it's fine_!" Morro repeated, already stalking away. "I told you, I hate the beach. I'm… I'm going to wait in the car."

"No, Morro, don't go-"

"Morro, c'mon, we're sorry-"

But, the former ghost was already stomping away, scooping up his phone before continuing his trek toward the car.

Once Morro had passed out of their line of sight, the three perpetrators of the prank shared regretful looks with each other.

"I had no idea Morro had a phobia of water," Kai admitted, probably imagining himself in that same situation and reacting in the same exact way.

Lloyd sighed, picking up his hat from where it had fallen off in the scuffle. "I better go talk to him…"

"No, I will," Cole volunteered, stepping forward. "That's the thing. For ghosts, avoiding water is, like, _instinct_ \- you know, something hardwired into you. It's like somebody telling you touching fire is okay and then trying to throw you into a pool of lava."

Kai and Lloyd both made a quiet " _oh_ " sound as they processed Cole's analogy.

Meanwhile, the earth ninja groaned, shaking his head. "Honestly, I can't believe I didn't think Morro might freak out like that." Cole met Lloyd's and Kai's eyes in turn. "But, I think I can help him."

Lloyd nodded, gesturing in the general direction of their rented car. "Go for it."

Cole smiled gratefully before taking off after his troubled brother.

Morro was sitting in the backseat, looking out the opposite window from the direction Cole was coming from. He didn't look up when the car door opened, though, nor when Cole settled in the seat beside him and shut the door softly.

Neither of them said anything.

This is what Cole never could seem to impress on Jay. The value of _silence_. Though pestering someone to admit all their problems might work with someone like Kai, Cole knew it would only make Morro- and probably most other people- clam up even more.

But, _silence_. When he described the solitude of mountain climbing, the solitary peace of being a lumberjack, the serenity that came with _listening_ to the quiet, Jay only gave him a blank look. More often than not, being silent would pressure the other person into talking first or to continue talking, without them even realizing that was his plan the whole time. Less was more, a concept most of the other ninja couldn't seem to understand.

This time was no exception.

"I didn't mean to freak out like that," Morro explained, though he kept his face pointed toward the window.

Cole was quiet, waiting.

"It's just- when the Preeminent dragged me into the ocean, it hurt. A lot," Morro elaborated, drumming his fingers against his thigh. "Not that I'm _scared_ \- it just… reminded me of that. I guess."

"It's okay," Cole finally reassured. "I get it. I had a hard time with water at first too. You associate bad memories with it."

He clapped Morro on the shoulder, causing the wind master to finally turn toward him in surprise. "So, we just have to get you to associate good memories with it."

Morro frowned. "Huh?"

"We're going to train you not to have an aversion to water anymore," Cole clarified, grinning. "And, to do that, we have to start small and work our way up."

Before Morro could agree or disagree to this plan, Cole started twisting about in the car, apparently searching for something. Spotting it, he leaned forward between the driver's and passenger's seats and grabbed a half full cup of water sitting forgotten in the cupholder.

Leaning back, he held the cup of water between his legs and held his right hand out to Morro. "Give me your hand."

Morro scrutinized Cole skeptically. "This is stupid. I _know_ water can't hurt me."

Cole rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yeah, your _brain_ knows that," he punctuated this by poking Morro's forehead, making the wind master lean back and rub his violated face crossly. "But, we need your _body_ to know it." This, he demonstrated by thumping Morro on the chest. "Now, give me your hand."

Morro fixed Cole with a half-annoyed, half-pleading expression, as if to say " _are you really going to make me do this?_ "

Cole replied with his own fully annoyed expression. "Will you just trust me?"

This was a loaded question with regard to Morro, since he was hesitant to trust anybody. But, fortunately, it had the desired effect; Morro, still unsure, slowly extended his hand and laid it palm up on top of Cole's own.

In response, Cole dipped the fingertips of his left hand into the cup of tepid water, and then pressed them to Morro's forearm. Morro flinched, but Cole didn't comment, instead drawing his wet fingertips gently from the wrist to the inner elbow, leaving a trail of water behind them.

"See?" Cole asked, dipping his fingers into the water yet again before touching Morro's arm again, this time drawing different designs with his index finger. "It doesn't hurt. Feels kind of nice, yeah?"

Morro gave a miniature jerk as Cole trailed too close to his inner elbow. He grunted. "Kind of tickles."

Cole continued running his fingers along the inside of Morro's arm for a few moments in silence, and if the way Morro was watching him intently was any indication, he was enjoying the sensation.

Eventually, though, Cole had to stop. He took the cup of water out from between his legs and held it out to Morro. "Okay, now it's your turn."

Morro fixed him with a long-suffering look. "Look, I don't need-"

" _Morro_ ," Cole groaned, pushing the cup more insistently at his brother. "I know what I'm doing."

Morro huffed. "That's what you told Jay before you dropped him off the side of the Bounty."

Cole blinked. "And..., he survived, didn't he?"

Morro rolled his eyes but accepted the cup and placed it between his own legs. Glancing one last time at Cole, Morro reached toward the water, stopped, flinched away from it, then, steeling himself, dipped his fingertips into it. Then, like Cole, he began tracing his fingers along his forearm.

"I feel stupid," Morro grumbled, though he didn't stop.

"Ah, but not afraid," Cole pointed out, holding up a finger. "That means it's working!"

"Okay, okay, good, I'm cured," Morro announced, setting the cup of water firmly back into the cupholder and wiping his moist forearm on his tank top. "Now, can we go home?"

"No, now we need to get you comfortable with the ocean," Cole insisted, pointing over his shoulder back at the beach. "It's okay to take baby steps as long as you take _enough_ of them."

Morro turned back toward the window. "Yeah, but the ocean is… where the _others_ are…"

Cole's eyebrows raised slightly with realization before smiling fondly at Morro's indirect way of showing embarrassment. "No one's going to make fun of you, Morro."

"That's also what you told Jay before you dropped him off the side of the Bounty."

"Okay, we all made mistakes that day," Cole asserted, waving his arms as if to will away the blame. "But, _now_ , I promise no one's going to tease you, alright? So, can we go? Please? For me?"

Morro glanced at Cole through narrowed eyes without replying right away.

Then, he opened the car door, and Cole internally cheered in victory.

As the pair approached the tide, the other ninja barely acknowledged them, true to Cole's word. They _noticed_ , of course; Kai peered over the top of his sunglasses from where he was working on his tan, Jay looked up from his (admittedly, quite impressive) sand castle building, and Lloyd and Nya momentarily paused in their water fight. (Zane was presumably still underwater, as he was not in sight.) But, no one mocked Morro or even made a big deal that he had returned- simply returned to their tasks, and Cole couldn't have asked for more discretion.

Morro slowed down as they came up to the water, stopping just beyond the farthermost reach of the water and staring down at it with wide eyes.

Cole stepped just inside the water line and beckoned to Morro from there.

"C'mon, Morro," the black ninja said encouragingly, leaning down and brushing his fingers along the surface of the ocean. "Just like the cup. Just getting your feet wet. No further."

Morro pressed his mouth into a line. "You have to promise not to throw me in."

"What? Why would I do that?"

"You know, people throw kids into the water and it teaches them how to swim. This is not the same situation."

Cole raised his right hand. "I promise not to throw you in. Now, will you quit stalling and come on?"

Morro took a deep breath..., and stepped ankle deep into the water.

"See?" Cole asked, inching deeper into the water himself. "It's not so bad. It's kind of soothing, relaxing…"

Morro looked down at his feet sinking into the sand. "I guess. A little bit."

"Now, a little bit farther…," Cole coaxed gently. Getting an idea, he held his arm out to Morro, as if escorting him onto the dance floor. "You can hold onto me if you want."

Morro scoffed. "Yeah, right." As if to demonstrate just how ridiculous he thought that suggestion was, he plowed confidently forward deeper into the water until he was about knee deep-

Then yelped when the tide suddenly started coming in, causing the water to rise to his waist when he was completely not expecting it, and his hand shot out and caught Cole's arm in a death grip.

"I thought you didn't want to hold-"

"Just shut up, okay?"

Smirking, Cole moved farther into the ocean, the task actually becoming easier now that he could more or less drag Morro along behind him. His brother's grip somehow tightened around Cole's massive bicep, and he was sure there would be bruises there in the morning.

All seemed to be going well as they made it to more or less navel high water, and Cole was just about to congratulate Morro on conquering his fear and call it a day-

When Morro's other hand came to squeeze Cole's arm as well. "What was that?"

Cole raised an eyebrow. "What was what?"

"Something touched me!" Morro insisted, attempting to shuffle closer to Cole over the unstable terrain of the sand, which only served to unbalance Cole.

"Wait, Morro, don't-"

But, Morro leaning on him and the waves buffeting him caused Cole to stumble forward through the wet sand, and subsequently Morro to do the same- and call out as he tripped over something.

Morro's yelp was cut short as he fell face first into the water, quickly sinking beneath the waves.

Before Cole could react, he screamed in sheer terror when the monster Morro had been referencing suddenly began rising out of the water, preparing to pounce and drag Cole under-

Cole scowled. " _Zane_! Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack?!"

The nindroid peered back at Cole in innocent confusion, rubbing his head as if in pain. "I did not mean to startle you. I was only following the path of a _Zebrasoma flavescens_ when somebody kicked me in the head-" ah, so Morro really _had_ felt something touch him- "and proceed to trip over me-"

"Alright, alright, just help me find Morro," Cole snapped, immediately sloshing forward and reaching blindly into the murky ocean water for any sign of his brother as Zane (with a somewhat puzzled expression) did the same. Because all Cole could imagine was Morro being plunged into the water just like when the Preeminent dragged him under and he was probably having a panic attack which was just going to make him _drown_ and then it would all be Cole's fault because he had asked Morro to _trust him_ and he had let him _drown_ -

Finally, Cole grabbed hold of an arm.

" _Morro_!" Cole shouted in pure relief as he easily plucked the water logged ninja out of the water and hugged him to his chest. "Are you okay?"

Morro proceeded to cough and hack up sea water whilst wiping his eyes to try to clear the salt water out of his vision. Then, he was making these weird little hiccuping sounds as he tried to regain his breath, and Cole's heart just plummeted when he realized Morro was _sobbing_ from panic.

"I'm so sorry, Morro!" Cole exclaimed, tightening his embrace on Morro (and probably inhibiting the process of catching his breath even further.) "But, you know I would have never let you drown!"

Finally, Cole set Morro back onto the ground… and that's when he realized Morro wasn't crying.

He was _laughing_.

Before Cole could ask after his mental state, Morro disappeared back under the waves.

And not a moment later, Cole felt two hands lock around his ankle before jerking him right off his feet, sending him tumbling backwards into the water.

Cole swallowed approximately two mouthfuls of ocean water before he could break the surface once again- where he could hear both Morro and Zane laughing. The earth ninja parted the damp, ebony locks obscuring his vision to see Morro holding his stomach as he laughed at Cole's shocked expression.

Morro, who had been clinging to him just moments ago like a baby bird begging his mother not to push him out of the nest, had _initiated_ a water fight.

Cole smirked.

"Oh, it is _so_ on."

Of course, the wrestling match between the three ninja (Zane had been drawn away from his nature observations by the temptation of a challenge) inevitably drew in both Lloyd and Nya as well, and Kai greeted them with a none too gentle elbow drop once they got close enough to the coastline.

Jay still glared at them anytime someone got too close to him, but he was almost finished with his sand castle that really was magnificent, complete with battlements, courtyard, towers, and even a little king and queen. He was just about to plant the flag (stick with a leaf tied to it) in its tallest tower-

When Nya pushed Kai, and the red ninja, in an effort to catch himself, stumbled onto the beach… and fell directly into Jay's sand castle.

Nya gasped in horror as Jay stayed perfectly frozen, the loving smile still on his face and his arm still outstretched with flag in hand.

Kai sat up amidst the now unrecognizable pile of sand, shaking Jay's life's work out of his spiky hair.

"Um… oops?"

Deliberately, Jay stood up and turned around to face the group of ninja still standing shin deep in the water.

Jay had never been more intimidating.

"All of you. Are going. _Down_."

* * *

Cole started awake, then immediately rubbed his neck, aching from the awkward position he had been sleeping in, curled up in the passenger seat of the car.

Looking up, he saw it was Morro driving, his face glowing red even in the almost complete darkness from the prophesied sunburn marring his cheekbones. The wind master was only very rarely allowed to drive, since he _technically_ didn't have a driver's license, so that meant everyone else must have been passed out in the back seats, thoroughly exhausted by their full and long beach trip.

Twisting around, Cole confirmed this, seeing Nya slumped over onto Kai and Kai slumped over onto Zane. Jay was doing his usual sleep muttering from one half of the middle seat while Lloyd's baby snores (deep breaths that were _just_ loud enough to be categorized as snores and, more importantly, were extremely adorable) emitted from the other.

Cole looked over at Morro again as he tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. "So, you still hate the beach?"

Morro hummed as Cole balled up his mostly dry beach towel into a makeshift pillow and leaned it against the window, already closing his eyes again.

"I hate the beach a miniscule amount less than I did before."

Cole responded with an airy laugh. "Well, either way, I'm proud of you, bro."

This rather earnest statement (probably only evoked because of Cole's intense sleepiness) caused Morro to pause.

"Um… I hate you a miniscule amount less than I did before, too."

Cole laughed softly yet again. "Right back at you, Morro."

* * *

 **Shout outs to:**

 **Peanut2196 and Fxreflies for suggesting that Morro is still nervous around water :D**

 **A Huge Fangirl, Cerenda, and Guest for suggesting Morro and Cole bonding! :3**

 **PrarieSkies and Inimidesert for suggesting the ninja go to the beach! :D**

 **Inimidesert for requesting Morro drives at night while the rest of the ninja are sleeping in the back! :3 (That was so adorable :3)**

 **Thank you all so much for leaving these fabulous suggestions! (And please feel free to let me know if I left anyone out!)**

* * *

 **Writing about Lloyd's "baby snores" brought me so much joy XD**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! Once again, I promise I will reply to all the reviews from last chapter eventually! :D**

 **Have a wonderful day! I love you! :D**


	9. Ducklings

**Yes! As promised, the latest chapter of Getting to Know You! And, to make up for not posting for so long, a HUMONGOUS chapter XD Still getting around to replying to reviews, but Forgotten Memory will be updated shortly! ;D**

 **Special thanks to: thefiresensei, DarkRed101, TheKittenQueen, GameCubeGirl1, RandomDragon2.0, Inimidesert, FirstFandomFangirl, Servus Christi sum, Galactic D0nuts, Peanut2196, TheYellowNinja, ColeLoverGirl, Fxreflies, silverTimeTwin, dragonpearlninja, PrairieSkies, FullMetalPon-3, A Huge Fangirl, Rick Riordan1, and KyraPlays for reviewing! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **TheYellowNinja: Aw, it makes me so happy to know you love reviewing my stories! :D Haha, imagining what the others would do was pretty fun, and I LOVED imagining Zane just walking into the ocean and never coming back up XD I LOVE Cole/Morro bonding as well (obviously XD) so that chapter was sooooo fun to write :D And, YES, I LOOOOOOVE YOUR SUGGESTION SO MUCH THAT THAT'S WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS ABOUT! That is soooo cute, and I *really* hope I did this headcanon justice! I *kind* of tried to tackle it from both Lloyd and Morro's perspectives, but I totally understand if this chapter didn't hit the mark for you, so PLEASE let me know if you don't like it! I'm pretty nervous, because I'm pretty sure this is the first request I've written up for you, and you already know how much I value your opinion ^-^; Anyway, let me know you what you think, and thank you sooo much for always being so supportive! :D**

 **ColeLoverGirl: Awwww, I loved reading that little scenario about Morro teasing Lloyd for his baby snores XD And... Zane, Zane, Zane, Zane, Zane *shakes head fondly* So pure XD And, YES, YES, YES, I LOVE that headcanon! Thank you so much for the suggestion and for reviewing! :D**

 **Rick Riordan1: Hey, I'm so happy to see you over here! :D Oh my gosh, my life would be complete if this story became a TV show and I'm pretty sure I could die happy XD All joking aside though, that means a lot to me! :D I LOVE Morro/Cole bonding and I love Jay getting so hung up on something as simple as a sand castle XD And, yes, the moment the idea for Lloyd's baby snores came to me, I knew I HAD to make that a part of my universe XD I'm so glad you love those lines! I love you too, and thank you for always being so encouraging! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro comes to see Lloyd's more childlike side :D Shout outs out the bottom! (Where they may move permanently XD)**

* * *

They looked like little ducklings, Lloyd mused from the end of the line where he could see all his siblings in single file, each waddling under the weight of a heavy cardboard box behind the unencumbered Master Wu. Like little ducklings following their mother.

Because the old storage room on the Destiny's Bounty had been converted into a bedroom for Morro, there was an abundance of boxes and crates of junk that needed a new home. They had tolerated the maze of boxes that had become the hallway for long enough, but after Jay had tripped on them three times and Cole had accidentally stepped on (and crushed) several, Zane had officially declared them a fire hazard.

Master Wu announced that he did own a storage unit in the village that the old monastery overlooked, and so, equipped with boxes of old gis they couldn't bring themselves to throw out, momentos from their adventures, and the classic impulse buys that did not end up being as useful as they initially thought, the ninja headed back to the place where they had first met.

Lloyd was very much enjoying imagining his siblings as baby ducks, especially with Kai stumbling from side to side as he tried to balance the weight of a box that was much too heavy for him (though he insisted he could carry it easily), when Morro suddenly slowed to a stop directly in front of him.

Lloyd sidled up next to the wind master as the others continued on, raising a blonde eyebrow in askance. He saw Morro staring at the alleyways they were passing by, watching a mother pull her curious child along by the hand and three pre-teens racing to kick a can along the street.

"What's up, Morro?" Lloyd asked, seeing that Morro was too far into whatever day dream that had overcome him to notice they had been left behind.

"Hm?" Morro perked up, glancing at Lloyd. "Oh, nothing. It's just… you know. This is where I used to live."

After that, Morro lapsed into silence, and Lloyd imagined he was seeing an image of his younger self huddling in those shadowy alleys, searching for food, clothes, supplies in the garbage, begging for pennies on this very curb.

"Wow, Morro, I didn't take you for the sentimental type," Lloyd joked in an effort to get Morro's mind off what could only be unpleasant memories; thus, it came out a little forced.

Morro scoffed. "Sentimental? Who's sentimental?" And with that, Morro was snapped out of his trance, and he moved to catch up to the other ninja congregated around Master Wu as he unlocked his storage unit.

Lloyd still caught his gaze wandering to the top of the mountain, though, where the ridiculous staircase and burnt out husk of the monastery were still visible.

"C'mon, Sensei, hurry up!" Kai whined, arms shaking from exertion as he tried to keep hold of his immensely heavy box.

"Aw, do you want me to take that for you, Kai?" Cole asked in a baby voice as he showed off by holding his own box with one hand and offering the other to Kai.

"I know one of these is the right key…," Master Wu reassured as he flipped through key after ancient key on an oversized key ring and Kai shot a death glare at Cole.

"Sensei, you didn't even have to carry boxes!" Jay pointed out in exasperation. "Couldn't you have found the key on the way over here?"

"You expect me to carry these heavy boxes? I am _old_ , Jay, and I have perfectly capable ninja." Wu defended crossly. "In fact, to demonstrate just how capable, Jay will carry twice as many boxes as the rest of you."

"Yay!" The rest of the ninja cheered as Jay cried out in indignation.

"Ah, here's the key," Wu announced, holding up a heavy-looking bronze monstrosity that looked more fit to open a dungeon cell than a storage unit. With a screech, the key turned in the lock and Wu pushed the door open.

Kai immediately rushed past their sensei and dropped his load before taking some exaggerated deep breaths and stretching out his arms. The other ninja filed in more slowly, setting their boxes down more carefully in some semblance of order.

"Sensei?" Zane addressed, gesturing to three boxes that had been pushed up against the corner and collected a very thick layer of dust. "What do these boxes contain?"

"Ah, those are things from long before you became my students," Wu replied, stroking his beard. "In fact, Morro, I believe most of these things are yours."

Morro, who had been pushing his box up against Nya's, looked up at his name. "Woah, really?"

"It was… much easier to keep them here after you left," Wu replied more quietly, his gaze lingering on the boxes as if imagining the day he had put them there with a heart heavy with grief.

"Oh," Morro replied. Then, most likely to resolve the lingering silence in the small room, he walked over to one of the three boxes, ripping it open.

"Hey, my old clothes!" Morro exclaimed, reaching into the box and pulling out a shirt that looked fit for a seven or eight year old and holding it up.

He frowned. "Geez, I was puny."

"What do you mean 'was?'" Cole joked, resting his elbow on the kneeling Morro's head as an armrest. Morro immediately jerked his head away and growled. It was no secret that the others taunted Morro about the fact that he was shorter than all of the ninja except Lloyd (though he took out his anger by lording his inch over the Green Ninja at every opportunity.)

"Hey, what's this? A photo album?" Nya asked, reverently lifting a black and green book out of another box she had taken the liberty to open. "You guys had cameras back then?"

"It was a very new and experimental technology," Wu explained as the other ninja gathered around Nya so they could see the album in her lap. Lloyd sat on the floor at her right and Morro on her left, and if the latter's intrigued expression was any indication, then he had never seen the album before either. "And, the photographs were difficult to develop, so we could not take many."

Nya nodded before flipping the cover open.

She gasped- and then immediately started cooing, " _aaaawww_ …"

Lloyd and the rest of the ninja joined in while Morro slapped a hand to his face and groaned.

Because, directly in the center of the first page of the photo album was a black and white photo of Morro at perhaps eight or nine years old. His hands were behind his back, and he was smiling shyly at the camera from underneath his curtain of black hair. He was incredibly small and skinny, his clothes hanging off of him in a way that suggested malnutrition. The most adorable feature though was the large gap in his mouth, indicating the loss of one of his front teeth along with several others beside it.

" _Ugh_ ," Morro grunted, tilting his head back to glare at Master Wu. "You took a _picture_ of me like that?"

"I had to commemorate the one time I got you open to your mouth before your teeth grew back," Wu defended steadfastly, obviously not remorseful in the slightest.

"How'd you lose all those teeth at once, Morro?" Cole asked.

"Yes, Morro, how _did_ you lose all those teeth at once?" Wu repeated knowingly, a smirk on his face obviously as a result of knowing something the rest of the ninja did not.

Morro scratched the back of his head, looking away. "Ah, it's really a boring story…"

"C'mon, Sensei, tell us what happened!" Jay begged.

"Yeah, now we _have_ to know!" Kai added, grinning evilly with anticipation of what _must_ have been a juicy story.

"Very well," Wu agreed.

"No!" Morro protested, shaking his head at Wu.

"Sorry, Morro," Nya said very _un_ apologetically, her evil smirk mirroring Kai's and making her look even more like her brother than she already did. "You are _way_ outvoted."

"Shortly after Morro began training under me, I sent him outside to play," Wu recounted, the faint smile causing his eyes to crinkle suggesting he was enjoying the trip down memory lane. "After I heard several loud thumps, though, I finally went outside to see what all the commotion was about. I searched the entire courtyard for Morro but could not find him until I turned around… and saw him on the roof."

The other ninja gasped and turned to Morro. "You climbed on the roof?!"

"What were you doing on the roof?" Zane asked genuinely.

Morro hesitated but probably figuring that Wu would tell them anyway, he scoffed with a faint blush and, looking away, snapped, "Well, what do you think? I was playing ninja!"

As soon as the burst of laughter ended, Wu continued the story.

"Naturally, I called up to him and told him to get down. But, since he was singing his theme music-"

" _Humming_. I was _humming_ my theme music."

"-he didn't hear me. So, I called again, much more loudly, which appeared to startle him-"

"More like _terrify_ me!"

"-and… he slipped and fell off the roof."

The rest of the ninja gasped, half in horror and half in surprised amusement. Because, even though Morro was their brother now, everything about his past had either been dark and better left alone or completely shrouded in mystery. But, now, _here_ was a perfectly human, normal story of a reckless child that encapsulated the innocence of the one in the picture. It was a side of Morro Lloyd, at least, had never seen, that part of his memories locked up tight during his possession.

"And, I hope you learned your lesson," Wu concluded, fixing Morro with a rather superior expression.

"Yeah, I was a little too busy gushing blood and trying not to swallow my teeth to take notes," Morro retorted, crossing his arms as he glared up at Wu.

"You're lucky you _only_ lost some baby teeth."

"Need I remind you that I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't _scared the crap_ out of me?!"

"You would not have fallen if you hadn't been on the roof!"

"Your instructions were 'go play outside.' Nowhere in there did you say 'and don't get on the roof.'"

"Some things shouldn't have to be said-"

"Alright, alright, you two," Nya placated. "Ancient history. Let's see what else is in this album."

Flipping the page elicited even _more_ aaaawwws and an even _more_ embarrassed groan from Morro who immediately covered his reddening face.

Because the picture was of Master Wu- a very young, clean-shaven Master Wu- standing outside and apparently in mid-laugh as he looked at something behind the camera, presumably the photographer.

And, curled up in his arms was a sleeping Morro, his expression perfectly peaceful as he rested his head on his teacher's chest.

"You were so cute, Morro!" Cole exclaimed teasingly, squeezing the wind master's shoulders from where he was kneeling behind him.

"Yeah, _were_ ," Kai snarked, earning a bark of laughter in response.

"What is this? Pick on Morro Day?"

"Who was taking the photograph if not you, Sensei?" Zane asked.

Wu, who had been staring at the picture with a fond smile, was shaken out of his reverie by Zane's inquiry. "Oh, that was Misako."

Lloyd started, staring at Morro incredulously across the album in Nya's lap. "You knew my mom?"

Morro rubbed his chin as he squinted at the ceiling, as if that particular memory was hiding somewhere in the spider web in the corner. "Oh yeeeeaaah, I did meet her once or twice. Eh, don't freak out about it; I doubt I said two words to her. When I was a kid, I was…"

"Intensely shy," Wu finished.

Morro balked. "I was going to say 'kind of quiet.' I was _not_ intensely shy."

"You refused to tell me your name for two weeks!"

"That was not out of shyness! That was because of my deep-seated trust issues, which is an entirely different can of worms." Morro, satisfied that he'd won that argument, turned back to Lloyd. " _Anyway_ , when she did visit, they spent most of their time flirting, so I usually tried to leave the room as quickly as possible."

"Ew, old people flirting?!" Jay exclaimed- which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Wu.

"I wasn't old then!" Despite Jay's wounded grumbling, Wu pointed down at the photo album to return to the original point of conversation. "I vividly remember this day, though. The reason Morro was so tired was-"

"Sensei, _c'mon_!"

"-he was terrified of butterflies, and one was chasing him."

The raucous laughter could probably have been heard for miles around.

" _Butterflies_?!" Kai repeated. "Really?!"

"Okay, okay, _one_ , I grew out of that really fast!" Morro defended heatedly, though the blush was still glowing brightly upon his face. " _Two_ , bugs are absolutely disgusting. And, _three_ , that butterfly had it out for me!"

As the other ninja drowned in even more laughter, Morro pointed an accusing finger at Master Wu. "And, _somebody_ refused to help me!"

"I was allowing you to overcome your fear."

"You were _laughing_ at me!"

"It was hilarious and adorable. How did you expect me to react?"

Morro scoffed, this obviously not being a satisfactory defense. "And, you wonder why I have trust issues."

At that, Nya flipped the page once again. This time, the picture was just of Morro at around the same age as the previous two. He was crouched low to the ground as he reached for what appeared to be a pile of leaves. The bare trees in the background and varying shades of gray of the leaves suggested it was fall, and Morro, for some unknown reason, had a small pile of the leaves tucked against his chest in his other arm, some of which were already falling to the ground as he reached for more.

"Is that how you guys cleaned the yard before rakes were invented?" Kai asked seriously.

Morro fixed him with a glare. "How old do you think I am? Of _course_ rakes were invented!"

Zane followed up Kai's inquiry. "Then what were you hoping to accomplish, Morro?"

Morro glanced up at Wu, as if expecting him to expose yet another embarrassing secret to his fellow ninja.

Wu sighed nostalgically, reaching down to pat Morro's head affectionately. "I think that is my favorite picture."

Morro did not shake off Wu's hand- seemed to revel in the touch even if he would never admit so out loud- and dropped his gaze back to the picture, as if now looking at it through the fond lens Wu had.

"It was when I was first learning to use my elemental powers," Morro explained haltingly, the tone now more reminiscent than it was humiliating. "I knocked all those leaves off the trees. And, you know I lived in the city all my life so I didn't really get how nature worked and that was also back when my moral compass wasn't so screwed up, so I felt awful and… wanted to… you know. Put them back on."

" _Aaaaawwww_ …"

"Ugh, stop saying 'aaw!'"

"C'mon, Morro," Lloyd teased, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "It's okay to have been adorable _once_ in your life."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Morro grumbled in response. He turned away from the photo album, though, instead pulling the last unopened box toward him and ripping it open, signaling he was done with that portion of the trip down memory lane.

Undeterred, Nya flipped the page again.

The picture was awful. It was so blurry as to almost be impossible to tell what the subject of the photo was. Only because they knew the theme of the album and had a previous picture to reference could the ninja tell that it was a very young Master Wu, albeit at a diagonal angle and focused more on his chest than his face.

The only other discernible thing in the photo was a small hand in the corner, fingers splayed as if pushing something away. It was seen from the back, though, suggesting it belonged to the photographer.

Wu chuckled, and Morro glanced over but stubbornly refused to get re-engrossed in the album.

"Why would you put this one in here?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow at their sensei.

"It was the only photo Morro ever took."

And, looking back, the ninja could finally make sense of what was going on- Master Wu was trying to take the camera back and Morro was trying to keep it away. The photograph itself was most likely taken by accident.

Not finding much to rib Morro about, Nya turned the page again… but it was blank. A quick flip through the rest of the album revealed the same.

"That's it." Nya said, half as a statement, half as a question asking for an explanation as to _why_ that was it. After all, four photos hardly constituted an album.

"That's all there is," Wu explained, his voice losing the nostalgic warmth it had had only moments before and descending into something colder, like regret. Grief, maybe.

And, the others knew why. Because Morro had not spent long in this innocent, childish phase. Before long, their lives had become embroiled in conflict, one in arrogance and the other in disappointment, and neither had wanted to commemorate _that_ , leaving the rest of the photo album full only of what might have been.

No one could deny the rather somber atmosphere that had made itself known in the storage unit, the laughter from before suddenly seeming inappropriate and out of place here in the part of the past that no one wanted to remember.

The heavy disappointment that sat in Lloyd's stomach was unexpected and a little concerning. His early experience with his family was spotty at best and nonexistent at worst. Reminiscing about someone's childhood- of an innocent brother, of a hopeful uncle, of the mother he only ever really knew later in life- was something he hadn't realized he'd wanted until it was suddenly over- and on a morose note at that.

Looking over to Morro to attempt to salvage this, he saw-

A kite.

 _The_ kite.

Morro had opened the last box and found the red and gold kite. He was holding it reverently, gently, ghosting his fingers over the surface as if it was a work of art he was afraid of damaging.

"You still have it," Morro said softly.

"Of course," Wu replied matter-of-factly as he reached down to squeeze Morro's shoulder.

And, Morro, acutely aware of the six other pairs of eyes on him, looked caught somewhere between dissolving into a fit of laughter and bursting into tears, leaving him with a sort of squiggly line as an expression.

So, to prevent the latter from happening, Lloyd blurted, "I've never flown a kite before."

It had the desired effect: Morro's head snapped up with an incredulous expression.

"What?!" He exclaimed. "You have to fly a kite at least once! It's… it's like an _art form_!"

"Well, I don't know if I'd go _that_ far," Kai remarked jokingly, ruffling Lloyd's hair. "But, we _do_ need to fix that problem, bro."

"Yeah, let's do it!" Cole agreed, hopping to his feet.

"Now?" Nya asked as she carefully replaced the photo album in the dusty box.

"Yeah, let's do it now!" Jay chimed in hastily, as if hoping that if they didn't have to carry anymore boxes now, Master Wu would forget his punishment of making Jay carry twice as many boxes as anyone else.

"Sensei?" Zane, ever the obedient one, leaned back to look up at their teacher.

Wu pondered the request a moment, stroking his beard. "I suppose I don't see the harm in taking a break."

As Lloyd cheered with the rest of his siblings, he also gave himself an extra pat on the back when he saw Morro grinning, clutching the kite to his chest as if he never wanted to let go.

* * *

Morro closed his eyes and tilted his face toward the sun.

If he had to pick one thing he missed the most when he was in the Cursed Realm, it would be being outside. Stretching out on the grass, hands behind his head, sunlight on his skin, breeze ruffling his hair. Yeah. It was the things like that he missed when he no longer had them.

"Ugh, I suck at this."

Morro laughed derisively at Lloyd as he heard the kite the Green Ninja had unsuccessfully tried to get airborne crash into the ground yet again.

"You don't suck," Morro reassured without opening his eyes. "More like… utterly incompetent."

"Wow, that makes me feel so much better."

The other ninja had left the imparting of kite-flying wisdom up to Morro while they dispersed throughout the park. Jay and Nya had snuck off somewhere to be alone; Kai, Cole, and Zane were challenging each other to see who could climb a tree the fastest; and Master Wu had somehow managed to find some bread, which he was contentedly feeding to the ducks, if their excited quacking was anything to go off of.

But, Lloyd had proved himself hopelessly inept at kite-flying, and so Morro gave up trying.

The wind master heard the Green Ninja collapse onto the grass beside him, frustratedly blowing the air out of his cheeks. A moment passed in amicable silence, and Morro wondered what Lloyd was doing, as his eyes were still closed and he didn't really care enough to check.

"You have really long eyelashes."

Morro opened his eyes at that, fixing the Green Ninja peering down at him with an incredulous look. "What?"

"Your eyelashes. They're really long. Like a girl's." Lloyd placed his hand on his chin. "You know, with the long hair and being so small, you could probably pass for a girl pretty easily."

Morro blinked.

It was so… _random_ , so… well, childish. Of course he _knew_ that Lloyd was technically younger than the others- it had been easy enough to locate the Tomorrow's Tea incident as he was combing through Lloyd's memory for leverage- but this was the first time he had ever _seen_ it. Lloyd went to great lengths to establish his maturity, effectively cutting his childhood short, so to see it peeking it out now was… almost surreal.

And, yet… Morro was glad.

" _Morro, it's getting dark. We need to go in."_

 _Morro's shoulder shook underneath the large hand resting there. He stared down at the discolored, brittle leaves lying pitifully in his hands as their million brothers and sisters still lay abandoned on the ground._

" _But… but, I killed them," he stated, pushing the leaves at Master Wu insistently._

 _Wu chuckled, moving to kneel in front of Morro. "No, Morro, you didn't kill them." Wu brought his hands up to cup Morro's. "Trees are like people in that way. As they grow up, they let go of the things they don't need anymore."_

 _A natural breeze blew by, and Morro watched as it picked up the leaves in his hands, making them swirl and dance in the air lIke they were alive. He shivered, the cold of the autumn day finally getting to him._

" _See," Wu continued, closing his hands so Morro's were pressed against each other between them, warming them up. "But, trees are also like people in that they hold onto the things they really do need forever."_

 _Morro cocked his head. "Huh?"_

" _Everytime a tree gets bigger, it grows another ring inside its trunk," Wu clarified. "And, those are the things it remembers that help it grow into a better tree than it was the day before._

" _And, people are the same way," he asserted despite Morro's half-wistful, half-skeptical expression. "I have a ring from the day my father taught me to fish. I have a ring from all the pranks I played on my big brother." He squeezed Morro's hands. "I have a ring from the day I met you."_

 _Morro gasped excitedly. "I have that ring too!"_

" _Yes," Wu nodded, laughing as he straightened into a standing position. "And a ring from the day you fell off the roof, and a ring from the day you let a butterfly touch you for the first time, and a ring from today, when you wanted to put the leaves back on the trees. And, you'll always have them."_

" _Even when I'm the Green Ninja?" Morro asked, hurrying after Wu as his sensei started walking back toward the monastery._

" _Yes, even then."_

" _Even when I'm old like you?"_

 _Wu laughed. "Yes, and even when you are much older than me."_

" _Older than_ you _?"_

" _Alright, alright, let's get inside before_ I _start getting depressed."_

So… maybe he _hadn't_ let go of those things. Maybe he still had those rings inside them, even though he'd thought he renounced his childhood in the pursuit of something greater, just as Lloyd had. Maybe it was okay to have been adorable _once_ in his life.

Morro scoffed, laughing. "Who's small? You're the one that's five foot two."

Lloyd gasped, offended. "I am five five and you _know_ it!"

"And, at least _I_ don't have the voice of a chipmunk."

"I do _not_!" Lloyd protested, his still somewhat pre-pubescent voice, of course, cracking ironically and skipping up about three octaves.

Morro dissolved into laughter, grabbing his stomach as Lloyd blushed, hand going to his throat as if some physical ailment had been the cause of the crack.

"Shut up," Lloyd muttered, shoving Morro hard in the arm. "You're a jerk."

"You're the jerk."

" _You're_ the jerk!"

"Well, c'mon then, jerk," Morro said, pushing himself up off the ground and into a standing position. "You're going to learn how to fly that kite if it's the last thing you do."

"What happened to 'utterly incompetent?'" Lloyd asked, though he obediently trudged over to the abandoned kite as well.

"Eh, I'll help you out at first," Morro offered, blowing a little puff of wind into Lloyd's face to demonstrate, which made Lloyd recoil and rub his eyes. "Like training wheels, you know?"

Morro looked down his one inch at Lloyd, rubbing his startlingly green eyes and then brushing his fingers through the golden locks Morro's wind had displaced.

He remembered possessing the Green Ninja, noticing how small the prophesied hero was, how young and relatively inexperienced. Instead of inspiring pity or guilt, it had only invited more hatred at the time; after all, Wu had really chosen this _child_ over him?

But now… Now Morro was more than ready to help Lloyd fly his kite for the first time, if only to preserve that childlike grin that there had not been enough memories of in his head.

"Here," Morro handed Lloyd the kite. "And, don't try to screw up this time, huh?"

"Fine, as long as you don't screw it up either."

 _I won't_ , Morro thought as he watched Lloyd trying to untangle the kite's string with a fond smile he quickly replaced with an unimpressed smirk. _Not this time._

* * *

 **Shout outs to:**

 **Inimidesert and silverTimeTwin for requesting that Wu tell embarrassing stories about Morro's childhood :3**

 **Ms. Cipher16 for requesting a looooong time ago that Morro and Lloyd fly kites and talk about life XD**

 **And, TheYellowNinja for requesting Morro starting to see Lloyd as the innocent little brother that he is :3**

 **Thank you all for these wonderfully inspiring suggestions, and I hope you like the chapter! :D**

* * *

 **I know, I know, Kai, Jay, and Zane will get there individual bonding chapters eventually, but I can't help where the inspiration fairy decides to strike XD I like this chapter a lot, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! :D**

 **Thank you all for reading! I love you! :D**


	10. Sweater

**Hello, everyone! So, I was able to update a lot sooner than I thought XD Here is the promised Christmas chapter! Also, just a warning that this is probably my most blatant attempt at humor, so please let me know if you laughed XD**

 **Special thanks to: FirstFandomFangirl, TheKittenQueen, Katla1, KyraPlays, Plumcicle, WindNinja333, RandomDragon2.0, Inimidesert, ardhoniel. LotRStarWarsNinjago, Fxreflies, JBomb217, TheYellowNinja, ColeLoverGirl, ILoveNinjago95, GameCubeGirl1, Rick Riordan1, Jadestorm, and InternetFreako for reviewing! I love you all! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **JBomb217: I want to tease Morro for the rest of his life too :3 And, yeah, I've never flown a kite before, but I imagine I would be pretty terrible at it. :/ Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **TheYellowNinja: Okay, that makes me so relieved! I would hate to disappoint you! ^-^; Yay, I'm glad you loved the childhood stories and the inclusion of the kite! (That's always something that always stuck with me- I always wondered where the kite went XD) Haha, no worries, any kind of "getting to know you" is acceptable XD Of course I value your opinion! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **ColeLoverGirl: Haha, yeeeaaah, sometimes you have to gloss over things, but I figured if anybody would be able to find some random bread, it would be Wu XD YES! Brothers that fight a LOT but still love each other :3 I... am shorter than Lloyd =_= I'm glad the cuteness was so intense! XD And, of course! I LOVE reading reviews, and I'm just so happy to share my writing with all of you guys and get feedback on it! :D Zane probably won because Zane is good at everything, but I can TOTALLY picture your scenario XD Thank you soooo much for your lovely compliments! :D**

 **ILoveNinjago95: Aaaawwww, thank you SO much! I characterize Morro as having a brotherly relationship with all of the other ninja, so no explicit greenwind shipping in either story- but, hey, feel free to interpret it that way if you like! :D Hope you still enjoy the stories regardless! :D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Rick Riordan1: Haha, yep! And, that sounds EXACTLY like Jay. (And yet he can never catch the butterfly :'D) Haha, I'm glad you liked the reminiscing and comment on Morro's (and Lloyd's) femininity XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Jadestorm: Aw, it makes me so happy to know you're a long time reader! :D And, I LOVE the idea of a drunk Morro! The wheels are already turning! ;D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **InternetFreako: Haha, yes, I LOVE that idea! :D All of his inhibitions (and emotional guardedness) would definitely be lowered ;D I'm so glad you've liked these chapters! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro doesn't like Christmas :D**

* * *

Maybe it was because he was the ice ninja, but Zane loved Christmas.

He loved cooking a big feast for his family, he loved giving gifts (and couldn't help but feel a small flash of pride when Lloyd gushed, "Zane gives the _best_ gifts"), he loved the perfectly illogical and unexplainable _feeling_ that pervaded the air.

This year was going to be Morro's first Christmas with the ninja, and Zane was already planning on making it _extra_ special, already making shopping lists and venn diagrams for deciding what would be the absolute best present to give Morro and cataloging new recipes to try.

So, when Morro uttered those five little words, _those five little words_ , Zane's metaphorical heart dropped right down to his toes.

"I don't really like Christmas."

Kai had just finished enumerating his lengthy Christmas list, and Jay had excitedly recounted a fond childhood memory of Christmas in the junkyard… and then Morro said that.

"What? Why not?" Cole asked, echoing Zane's malfunctioning thoughts with a much calmer tone of voice then Zane felt was appropriate. "Everybody likes Christmas."

"Eh," Morro shrugged. "It's just a day of the year when people are forced to be nice to each other. Nothing special."

 _Nothing special?!_ Zane thought frantically to himself, already making up a woefully unbalanced T-chart of the pros and cons of Christmas.

"So, what?" Nya asked challengingly. "You're just not going to celebrate with us?"

Surprisingly, Morro nodded. "I'm not saying you guys can't celebrate however you want, but I'll probably just hang out in my room or something."

After some failed wheedling to get Morro to change his mind and equally as unsuccessful attempts to get a better reason as to why he disliked Christmas so much, the conversation turned back to other topics.

The second Morro left, though, Zane spoke up for the first time since Morro's horrifying announcement.

"We must make this the best Christmas Morro has ever had," Zane declared, planting his fists on his hips as a general would when sending his army into battle as he looked down at the rest of the ninja lounging in various positions around the living room. "We must change his mind."

"I don't know, Zane," Cole began uncertainly from where he was sitting sideways in the armchair, his legs dangling over the side. "He seemed pretty adamant about not wanting to celebrate."

"No, I agree with Zane!" Jay yelped, hopping to his feet to stand beside Zane in solidarity. "Morro only said that because he's never had a real Christmas. If we show him a really awesome Christmas, he'll realize why it's so great!"

"Yeah, and we can surprise him!" Lloyd suggested. "When he walks in and sees the Bounty all decorated and sees the gifts we got for him and smells the cookies baking-"

"Ooh, okay, I'm in if I can help with cookies," Cole interrupted, turning to sit properly in the chair and lean forward in anticipation.

"Kai? Nya?" Zane asked, turning to the siblings whilst planning on how to let Cole "help" with the cookies and simultaneously keep him as far away from them as possible.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Nya nodded.

"But, we're still getting each other presents, right?" Kai asked. After an annoyed look from the rest of the ninja, he cleared his throat and nodded. "I mean, yeah, make this the best Christmas ever for Morro, okay."

"Good," Zane nodded. "Kai, Nya, you two will be in charge of decorating. Jay, you go out and buy some gifts for Morro. I will… I mean, Cole and I will make the cookies."

"What about me?" Lloyd asked, having no problem taking orders now that this mission wasn't ninja-related.

"Lloyd, since it was your idea to make it a surprise, your job is to keep Morro away from the Bounty for… Let's say six hours to be safe."

"What?" Lloyd sputtered. "Six hours? What are we supposed to do for that long?!"

"You're the Green Ninja," Kai stated, as if that solved everything. Clapping Lloyd on the back, he winked. "You'll think of something."

* * *

"So, why did you want me to see this movie so bad?" Morro asked with an eyebrow raised as he and Lloyd passed into the movie theater lobby.

"Well, I know how much you like the movie theater, and this movie's supposed to be really good," Lloyd offered hesitantly.

" _Attack of the Octoshark 5_ is supposed to be really good?"

"Um… yeah. Five star reviews and all that."

"And, why didn't the others want to come?"

"Well, uh… It's in 3D and they get… motion sickness. Yeah."

Morro squinted at Lloyd as if sensing he was lying, so Lloyd quickly came up with the excuse of buying popcorn. All he could think about on the walk to the concessions counter was what he was going to do for the four hours after the movie was over.

* * *

"Okay, Cole, now add one cup of white sugar," Zane instructed as his knitting needles clacked together.

"One cup, got it," Cole repeated as he held the enter bag of sugar over the mixing bowl.

" _With_ the measuring cup," Zane added hurriedly.

"Oh, c'mon, Zane, I can just eyeball it."

"No, you cannot. Measuring cup. Now."

"Alright, alright, sheesh."

Zane barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes, but the faint smile returned to his face as soon as he looked down at the beginnings of the green sweater he was knitting. Sure, he had sent Jay to go buy some gifts for Morro, but there was nothing quite like a homemade Christmas sweater. As soon as Morro put this on, he was sure to feel the same magic of Christmas Zane did.

"Okay, now what?" Cole asked.

"Now, one egg."

The black ninja held the egg over the bowl.

"And, you cannot just crush the egg in your fist."

"Aw, why not?"

"Then, there will be eggshells in the cookies!"

"So, I like my cookies crunchy! Is that a crime?"

Before Zane could retort, there was the sounds of yelling from the living room. The nindroid sighed, reluctantly setting his knitting on the kitchen table before standing up.

"I will go see what the conflict is with Kai and Nya," Zane told Cole. He fixed the earth ninja with a stern look. "Crack the egg- _gently_ \- and mix. That's it, okay?"

"You're no fun," Cole muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'yes, sir.'"

Zane did roll his eyes affectionately this time before passing into the living room to see what all the fuss was about.

He saw Kai and Nya standing on the couch, the former holding a string of paper gingerbread men in one hand while pushing Nya's face away from him with the other.

"What is going on in here?" Zane asked calmly, not at all surprised to see the two fighting like this.

"Kai is being a baby and keeps tearing down the gingerbread men!" Nya accused, pointing at her brother.

"They're so creepy, Zane!" Kai protested, hopping off the couch and shoving the string of decorations in the nindroid's face. "Look at their dead eyes. They're peering straight into your soul!"

Zane studied the purple gumdrop eyes and admittedly could not see whatever menace there that Kai did.

Instead, he looked around the room to see the Christmas tree on its side on the floor, some tinsel scattered haphazardly around the room, and the wreath on the couch, clearly having fallen off its nail in the wall.

"You two have been decorating for an hour and this is as far as you've gotten?"

"Well, we spent most of the time searching for the Elf on the Shelf _somebody_ threw out the window," Nya explained, crossing her arms and glaring at the fire ninja.

"Okay, that _thing_ is even creepier than these monsters," Kai defended, shaking the string of gingerbread men at Zane as if that supported his point. "I did us a _favor_."

Zane blinked. "Well-"

At that moment, though, Jay burst into the room, holding up a red shopping bag triumphantly. "No worries, everyone, Christmas is saved! I have found Morro the perfect gift."

"As long as it's not something stupid and generic like a scented candle, he'll probably love it," Kai said.

Jay blinked.

Looked down at the bag in his hand.

The blue ninja turned on his heel. "Um, I have to go back out for a totally unrelated reason- _certainly_ not to return a candle that may or may not be scented- so I'll, uh, be back in an hour or so."

Zane rubbed his forehead tiredly before turning back to Kai and Nya. How Master Wu put up with all of them all the time, he had no idea.

"Kai, can you please attempt to temper your fear of elves and gingerbread men and simply decorate the Bounty?" Zane asked in exasperation. "I promise, none of these things are going to come to life and attack you."

"Yeah, Kai," Nya reinforced, marching up to the red ninja and ripping the string of gingerbread men out of his hand.

Kai glared at his sister, but Zane, needing to get back to Cole and his knitting, decided that that would have to be a good enough solution and headed back into the kitchen.

To see Cole mixing the cookie dough. Which would have been fine if the dough wasn't _green_.

"What on earth did you do, Cole?!" Zane demanded, hurrying over to the black ninja's side and ripping the bowl out of his hand to see if the dough was salvageable.

"I cracked the egg and mixed it like you said!"

Zane glared at him.

"And… added a few more things. You know, for flavor."

Zane sighed for what he was sure would not be the last time and threw the entire bowl in the garbage. He knew from experience that any dish that was unfortunate enough to be subjected to Cole's cooking was better off in the trash can than the dishwasher.

"Let's start over."

* * *

"That was the worst movie I've ever seen," Morro groaned yet again as they walked down the sidewalk. "Why did you make us watch the credits?"

Lloyd bit his lip. They were nearing the Bounty, and he had yet to think of an excuse to keep them out any longer. "Um, well, you can't get the full experience unless you watch all the credits."

"They were cleaning up! The lights came on!"

"And… you feel more fulfilled, don't you?"

"No, I do not." Morro replied steadfastly. "In fact, I'm going to go watch TV and try to burn the memory of that movie out of my mind."

"No!" Lloyd shouted, making Morro jump. "We can't go home, because… I forgot my phone! At the movie theater! We have to go back."

"What?" Morro complained. "We're three quarters of the way back to the Bounty, and you just noticed that _now_?"

"Well, sorry I don't check my pockets constantly." Lloyd retorted, offended.

"Then, you go back and get it. I'm going home."

"No!" Lloyd shouted again, grabbing Morro's arm. "I, uh…, need you to keep company."

"Keep you company?"

"Because, I get… lonely."

Morro stared at Lloyd for a moment before rolling his entire head back with a groan. " _Fiiiine_."

* * *

"See, this is what the dough _should_ look like," Zane explained, tilting the bowl (that he had supervised much more closely) toward Cole.

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to be so smug about it." Cole grabbed the bowl from Zane. "Can I put them on the pan?"

Zane hesitated, glancing back and forth between Cole's hopeful smile and the bowl of perfectly prepared dough. Surely there wasn't much Cole could do to mess them up at this point.

Zane handed Cole the spoon, much to the black ninja's delight. "Okay. But, shape them into little balls. And place them at least one inch apart. And-"

"I got it, Zane. It's not like it's rocket science or anything."

 _To you, it is_ , Zane snarked in his head but managed to bite his tongue before saying it.

It bode well for Cole when there was a crash from the living room.

Zane rushed into the living room to see… the almost fully decorated Christmas tree had collapsed on the floor, knocking off most of the ornaments and shattering others.

"It was Nya's fault!" Kai shouted, pointing at his sister.

"I _tripped_!" Nya defended heatedly. "Over the cord I _told_ you to tape down!"

"I tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen-"

"Okay, okay, okay. It does not matter who is at fault here," Zane interrupted, holding up his hands. "Could you two _please_ just fix the Christmas tree and try to salvage what ornaments you can? And sweep up the broken glass before somebody gets hurt?"

The door burst open and Jay waltzed in with a white shopping bag this time, his smirk even more smug than it had been the first time he came home. "Okay, _now_ I've found the perfect gift for Morro."

"Please don't tell me it's something useless like a spice rack," Kai prefaced.

Jay's smirk faded.

Frowning, he snapped, "You know it would have been a lot easier if you guys had told me what _not_ to get beforehand!"

And with that, he slammed the door behind him.

Zane, pinching the bridge of his nose, said, "Okay, we do not have much time left, so if you could-"

Suddenly, a scream from the kitchen. " _FIRE_!"

* * *

Lloyd, lagging behind an irritated Morro heading toward the Destiny's Bounty, hurriedly dialed Kai on his found-because-it-was-never-really-lost cell phone.

Kai picked up on the third ring.

"Um, what's up?"

"Kai, is everything re- is that the smoke alarm going off?"

Now that Lloyd was listening to the background noise, he could hear a persistent chirping and yelling that sounded vaguely like:

" _Why would you turn the oven up to six hundred degrees?!"_

" _I thought they would cook faster!"_

Meanwhile, Kai said, "Uh… no."

"Kai, is there a fire?!"

"Mm… define fire."

"An open flame that is burning things that it shouldn't be burning."

"Oh. Then, yes, there is a fire. But, we've got it under control!"

"That doesn't sound like under control! Ugh, you know what, never mind. What am I supposed to do about Morro?"

"You can't bring Morro home now! You have to buy us more time to clean up!"

"But-"

" _Kai, we could use some help in here!"_

"I gotta go, bro. You'll figure something out."

And, with that, Kai was gone.

Lloyd huffed, reluctantly slipping his phone back into his pocket. Hurrying to catch up with Morro, Lloyd grabbed his arm.

"Hey, while we're out, let's go shopping!" The Green Ninja suggested.

"Shopping?" Morro repeated, yanking his arm out of Lloyd's grasp. "Okay, what's going on, Lloyd?"

"Going on? Nothing's going on! I just need to buy something… there!" Lloyd pointed at the store across the street.

They both turned to look at it.

 _Candy's Lingerie_

Morro blinked. Lloyd flushed bright red.

" _You_ need to buy something there?"

"...yes."

Morro raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Then, go in."

Lloyd's blush only deepened. He couldn't admit that he didn't actually need to buy anything there, or else Morro would know he was lying. And, Morro knew that.

Lloyd straightened. "Fine, I will."

"Okay, this, I've _got_ to see."

* * *

Zane took a rapid breath as he continued knitting at a furious pace in an attempt to finish the sweater before Morro and Lloyd got back. Over his shoulder, Nya was attempting to repair what she could of the scorched kitchen, Kai was trying to throw some at least decent decorations together (though Zane had a sneaking feeling the gingerbread men and elves had "mysteriously" disappeared), Jay still hadn't returned with a suitable gift, and Cole… well, Cole was grounded for the next couple of years, so after being sent to buy some (Zane shuddered at the words) _store bought_ cookies, he was standing in the corner.

"Zane, I don't think we're going to be able to air out the Bounty in time-"

"Just do whatever you can," Zane snapped at Nya as he rounded out the hem of the sweater. "Morro and Lloyd will be back any-"

They heard the door slam open in the living room, and then Lloyd shout. "Guys, Morro's coming in! I couldn't stall him anymore."

"Why do you have a bag from Candy's Lingerie?"

" _Is that really the most pressing issue, Kai_?"

Zane grabbed the plate of cookies as he and Nya rushed to the living room in order to hopefully salvage something from this admittedly pathetic Christmas celebration… just in time to see Morro step through the doorway. His dark eyes jumped from crooked and mostly naked Christmas tree to Cole standing in the corner to Zane pushing the plate of cookies at him. His nose wrinkled once it was assaulted by the burning smell the others had become habituated to.

"Here, Morro!" Zane said cheerfully, as if by acting like this was a much more impressive celebration than it really was, it would make it true. He pushed the plate of cookies even more insistently at a confused Morro until they were nearly touching his face.

Probably more threatened than touched, Morro hesitantly took a cookie from the plate and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully as he continued to survey the scene.

"Did we… interrupt something?" He asked, before coughing and then staring down at his cookie in consternation. "Why is Cole standing in the corner?"

"Because, he's an idiot-"

"Anybody could make that mistake-"

"You almost _killed_ us-"

"No matter," Zane said, shooting icy glares at the rest of his siblings. Zane was generally very cordial, so when he was angry, it was downright _terrifying_ \- thus, the rest of the ninja immediately shut up.

Sighing, Zane finally gave up the façade of a proud host, and he lowered the plate of store bought cookies. "Listen, Morro, we were trying to-"

Morro coughed again, a hand going to his throat and scratching. "What-what's in these cookies?"

Zane blinked at the non-sequitur. "Walnut chocolate chip?"

"Zane!" Lloyd shouted, grabbing onto Morro's shoulders as the wind master coughed again and started to wheeze. "You know Morro is _allergic_ to walnuts!"

"No, he's-" Zane stopped, eyes widening. He gasped, dropping the plate of cookies in horror where it shattered on the floor. "He _is_! Oh, how could I have forgotten?! I'm a nindroid, I shouldn't have- I'm so sorry, Morro!"

Cole hurried out of the corner and immediately scooped up Morro in his arms. The wind master, whose face was already turning red and neck already sporting hives, didn't protest being carried bridal style, and that was how they knew it was an emergency.

"Okay, okay, Zane, we can all self-deprecate on the way to the hospital."

* * *

Zane knocked softly before opening the door to Morro's hospital room. The wind master, after receiving a shot of epinephrine and being provided oxygen, was currently hooked up to an IV full of antihistamines while he rested. He had been looking out the window from the vantage point of his hospital bed, where night had fallen, but turned when Zane walked in.

A new wave of guilt washed over Zane when he saw that Morro's neck was still slightly red from where he had been furiously scratching at it before Kai slapped his hand away. Overall, the wind master looked exhausted, letting his head fall back against the pillows as he watched Zane approach.

"How are you feeling?" Zane asked softly as he came to stand beside the bed, his hands behind his back.

"Mm, well, I think I'm still alive, so that's a plus," Morro replied cheekily. He blinked sleepily, and Zane couldn't help but think that he would have been a little more guarded if it wasn't for his trying, near-death experience. (That, and antihistamines tended to cause drowsiness.)

"So, are you finally going to tell me what the heck is going on, or did you just try to kill me for no reason?"

Zane recognized it as a joke, but his guilt only increased tenfold. He dropped his eyes to the ground in shame before taking a shuddering breath. "Morro, I am so sincerely sorry for what happened. What we were trying to accomplish… I… I wanted you to surprise you with a grand Christmas celebration and so change your mind about the holiday."

He looked up shyly at Morro to see the wind master's eyebrows raised, but Zane continued before he could speak. "You see, I love Christmas immensely. At first, I thought it was because of the superficial things, like baking and gift giving and what not, but… But, after pondering it, I think it is because it is a time when it can make complete strangers feel like family. This year, I wanted to make sure that you felt like a part of our family- because you _are_ a part of our family- and then I thought that perhaps you could enjoy Christmas as much as I do."

Zane moved his hands from behind his back, presenting the barely finished green sweater he had been knitting all day. Morro's eyes widened. "I know this terrible day has probably ruined Christmas for you for the rest of your life, but I still wanted to give you the gift I made for you."

Hesitantly, Morro reached out and grasped the sweater. Holding it up so he could see it as one would wear it, the sleeves rolled out to their full length, and he could clearly see the perfection of the knitting pattern. He studied it for a moment before looking back at Zane then back at the sweater.

Zane offered a little bashful shrug. "On our first Christmas together, the others told me that one could not celebrate Christmas without a Christmas sweater. Looking back, I think they were being facetious, but the sentiment has always stuck with me." Sighing once again, he continued, "But, feel free to treat it as you would a normal sweater and not a Christmas sweater, because-"

Morro suddenly grasped the IV stuck in his left arm and yanked it out.

Zane reached his arms out as if to stop him. "Morro, I do not think-"

But, Morro was already pulling the sweater over his head, shimmying into the sleeves and admiring how, somehow, Zane had knit them to be the perfect length. He leaned back in his bed, looking down at the green sweater as he smoothed the fabric down once.

He looked up at Zane again with a grin on his face. "Just promise me one thing."

Zane, shocked by Morro's display of acceptance of his gift despite claiming that he didn't want anything, nodded. "Anything."

"You'll make cookies _without_ walnuts when we celebrate Christmas."

Zane stared.

Then, he began to laugh.

Because, Morro had understood. He wanted to celebrate Christmas with them. He wanted to wear his Christmas sweater on Christmas and eat cookies together like a family.

"Yes," Zane finally said, nodding. "I promise."

"Good," Morro agreed, the smile not dropping from his face despite his obvious lack of energy. Zane noticed how he fingered the hem of the sweater, trailing his fingers over the laborious twists and turns of Zane's knitting needles, and it was as if the weight that had descended upon him the moment Morro had declared his dislike of Christmas lifted off the nindroid's chest. "I still have one question, though."

"Yes?"

"Where's Jay?"

Zane's eyes immediately widened. "We forgot Jay!"

* * *

"Okay, _now_ I've got the perfect-"

Jay opened the door of the Destiny's Bounty to see… an empty room. A burning smell lingered in the air, wafting to him from behind the sad Christmas tree, broken glass, and smushed cookies. Curious, he picked up a bag laying on its side on the ground to see the logo of _Candy's Lingerie_ stamped on the side.

"What the heck did I miss?!"

* * *

 **Correction: Morro *didn't* like Christmas XD**

 **Also, Morro is allergic to walnuts :D**

 **Shout outs to KyraPlays and Plumcicle for suggesting a Christmas chapter! I hope you guys liked it! :D**

 **Anyway, here's my Christmas gift to all of you to thank you for all the amazing support! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Day Off Work/School, etc., etc. Thanks for reading! :D**


	11. Touch

**OKAY! So, I have to get a few things out of the way:**

 **This chapter is dedicated to KyraPlays as a birthday present in return for my lovely profile picture. Kyra, I AM SO SORRY I AM LATE! I wanted so so SO desperately to post on your actual birthday, but the story was just NOT coming to me. I PROMISE you though that it wasn't for lack of trying; I must have tried a dozen different ways to write a gift good enough to show my appreciation for you! And, I was NOT going to post something I wasn't proud of on your actual birthday because you deserve better. SO, I finally figured it out and I really like this chapter. I hope you do too :D (This is also why I haven't been sending you any PMs- but don't worry! They are forthcoming! ;D)**

 **Second of all: yes, I know I'm late with the update for Zane's Five Times. If you would like to know why, please refer to the above -_-;**

 **Third of all: this chapter is more like "clips" rather than one continuous plot, so it's supposed feel kind of disjointed. Just go with the flow XD**

 **Fourth of all: I KNOW I STILL NEED TO REPLY TO REVIEWS! I promise I will ;-; Please don't be mad ;-;**

 **Fifth of all: Wow, it's been a while since I updated this. Was the last chapter really a Christmas chapter? ^-^;**

 **Special thanks to: FirstFandomFangirl, WindNinja333, Katla1, thefiresensei, Inimidesert, JBomb217, TheYellowNinja, Peanut2196, KrazyKittyKat3, GameCubeGirl1, MightyShipper, Plumcicle, ColeLoverGirl, RandomDragon2.0, sister mismagius, Rick Riordan1, KyraPlays, Angel Star Ninja, StoriesAreMagic, RandomIsCJ, Ninjago4Life, SheaAndDove, Guest, black is the new black 13, and Guest for reviewing! :D**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **JBomb217: Yay! I was so worried that the chapter wasn't going to as funny as I thought it was, so I'm SO glad that it's the funniest thing I've ever written! XD When Cole admitted he ate the cake with the tools inside... I still love you, Cole, but c'mon XD Thank you so so so much for reviewing! :D**

 **TheYellowNinja: Aw, I'm so glad you liked all the humor in the chapter! I imagine that our sweet, innocent little nindroid getting really angry would be VERY SCARY indeed XD Kai's Venomari hallucinations were weird, but I thought it'd be fun to nod to them with the Christmas chapter XD Jay and Cole are so silly, so you know they thrive in the funny chapter. (Who am I kidding?! They thrive in any genre XD) And, of COURSE! We couldn't have a Christmas special without a happy ending! XD And, THANK YOU SO MUCH for recommending Voltron! Sorry it had to wait until summer vacation, but MAN was it worth the wait! I just finished it today and I was so emotional ;-; I LOVE IT SO MUCH! ;-; *Ahem* I'd love to talk about it with you XD (And... *maybe* write fanfiction for it? BIG maybe ;D) Anyway, thank you sooo much for reviewing! :D (And thanks again for the birthday review :3)**

 **MightyShipper: Dying from laughter?! That's EXACTLY what I was going for! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **ColeLoverGirl: YAY! I'm so happy you thought it was so funny! (With Jay being forgotten and Lloyd's terrible (and embarrassing) distraction attempts XD) Morro's learning, slowly but surely ;D And what Christmas special is there without a few mishaps? ;D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Rick Riordan1: RIGHT?! I'm sure Jay's going to give them an earful when they get home! XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Angel Star Ninja: Haha! Morro just has to get past the "bothering" part to the "caring" part XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Ninjago4Life: Ooh, good idea with a lot of tie ins to the show! I will definitely keep that in mind! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Guest: Haha, that's a pretty good compliment in and of itself! XD Thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

 **Guest: Haha, thank you so much for reviewing! :D**

* * *

 **Headcanon: Morro is uncomfortable with physical contact at first. Suggested by the birthday girl, KyraPlays :D**

* * *

It started with his hair.

Morro was sitting on the floor, his back against the couch since Nya and Lloyd had officially called dibs on two of the cushions (Kai and Jay had tied for the third one, but while they were wrestling for it, Zane claimed it and no one could get him to move.) _A Summer in Winter_ , the romantic comedy that Jay had picked for his turn, was only mildly entertaining if Cole's snoring was anything to go off of; but the rule was that only "thee that hath chosen the movie hadst the ability to turn off the movie," and Jay still had half a box of tissues to go, so it didn't look like anyone was going anywhere for the next forty three minutes.

Morro was nodding off himself (the movie would have been three million times more exciting if the guy had turned out to be a serial killer, but Morro quickly reprimanded himself for that being his go-to fix.)

And then, there it was. A tickling on the back of his neck.

He looked over his shoulder to see Nya glancing at him apologetically as she shifted the pillow she had been leaning against.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I was just moving your hair out of the way so I didn't pull on it. Oh wait, now it's…," Huffing, she reached out a hand and smoothed down a strand of hair that had apparently been out of place, and Morro shivered as her fingers just barely grazed the back of his neck.

"Wow, your hair is _really_ soft," she continued, thoughtfully rubbing the silky black curtain between her fingers. "Can I, like, play with it? Don't tell Jay, but I'm really bored."

Morro blinked. His hair was soft? That was news to him. He'd never really paid much attention to it, except to squint at the hint of green always in the corner of his vision and wonder where it came from.

And, _play_ with it? What did that even mean?

Outwardly, he shrugged. "Sure."

Hesitantly, as if he was turning his back on a hostile enemy that suddenly claimed to be his ally, he faced the TV screen once again to see that the couple was having yet another rendezvous rife with misunderstandings.

Nya began brushing her fingers through his hair, smoothing out any snags, parting it and bringing it together again. Morro blinked. It tickled, but… it was almost _soothing_ : the feather-light touches, the warmth radiating out from her fingers, the almost massage-like rhythm of the strokes. Whereas, at first, it had been all he could feel, his mind on high alert as an unseen enemy infiltrated his personal space, Morro now could feel his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. The woman and the man on the screen blurred and finally fell out of view as Morro leaned into the touch…

* * *

 _Pain exploded in his cheek. Morro gasped, instinctively grabbing his face even as he stumbled against the brick wall of the alley, nearly toppling over from the force._

" _What did I say about trying to steal from me, kid?" The older teen growled, leaning closer to Morro's throbbing face._

" _I'm sorry," Morro whimpered. It was humiliating, but he was surrounded- three on one- and with arrogant, self proclaimed "kings of the streets" like these, appealing to their ego was his best option. "I'm sorry. You're right. I won't mess with you again. I swear it. I_ swear _it."_

" _The problem is, we've heard you make that promise before," the teen clucked his tongue, shaking his head in disappointed. "Now, it's time for something I like to call 'deterrent.'"_

 _The other boy shoved Morro to the ground. His head scraped against the brick wall before his chest collided with the concrete, the breath going out of him in one wheezing_ whoosh _._

 _The third kid yanked his right arm out and held it flat against the ground, the palm pressed flush against the concrete and fingers splayed, as if Morro were testing for vibrations or wanting to measure the size of something against his hand._

" _Wh-what are you- what are you- don't,_ don't _-"_

 _A foot on his back. The last of his breath squeezed out of him. The ring leader lifted his foot, heavy boot poised dramatically over Morro's hand. Hanging there, dangling there, waiting for the signal._

" _Let's see you pickpocket me with a broken hand, huh?"_

" _Nononononono_ please _-"_

 _Morro felt the air part as the boot came rocketing down toward his hand-_

* * *

Morro jumped. His hand was already against his chest. Its mate was cradling it, prodding for an injury that had healed a long time ago but left its mark with the nearly invisible scars and ever-present clicking of his fingers in cold weather.

Eyes were on him. Jay had paused the movie. Even Cole was blinking groggily, though his focus was on the TV screen, as if he was trying to figure out how much of the movie he had missed.

"You okay?"

He turned to see Nya behind him, her hands still unconsciously supporting the very ends of his hair.

"Yeah," he said. He scooted forward, moving out of Nya's reach. "Yeah."

* * *

 _Morro tried to fold both his legs inside his shirt, wrapping his arms around them and tucking his chin into the stretched out collar, all with the hope that the stolen piece of clothing wouldn't tear apart at the already strained seams._

 _It was storming-_ hailing _\- and every little splinter of ice was a full blown assault on the senses. A blade driven into the skin, flaying away what little warmth there had been to begin with layer by layer. The sound of the projectiles ramming into every available roof and metal surface was a hellish symphony; though it was probably for the best, since dozing off in this weather would have been the Death Sleep, a phrase used solely for the bluish corpses that looked particularly peaceful, like statues more than people. So, instead, the_ clunk, clunk, clunk _of the pounding ice kept Morro maddeningly awake, unsure whether he'd even really heard the_ clunk _or whether his mind had automatically filled in the silence with the ever-present sound._

 _The air was too cold to even breathe- it burned his nostrils, felt like nails scraping against the inside of his mouth- and though it was probably irrational, he was scared to even close his eyes, as if they might freeze shut in one long blink._

 _So, he prayed with his eyes wide open that the back door of this sleazy club- a backdoor which had a small overhang protecting him from directly being hailed on- would not open and reveal a security guard that would shoo him away from the little bit of shelter he had. As his eyes drank in the white and gray slush and the shards of shattered glass, he couldn't wish for warmth or heavier clothes, couldn't even bring his frozen, barely functioning mind to do that much. If only this door won't open. If this door just doesn't open, I'll be okay. I'll be okay._

 _He jumped when hail struck him from the side. As long as the door doesn't open, I'll be okay._

 _He started again, sure the hail had pierced right through his shirt. If the door doesn't open, I'll be okay, I'll be okay, I'll be-_

 _The door opened-_

* * *

"Morro!"

The wind master slowly opened his eyes, glancing around for the source of the call. He winced when something hit him in the face- and then began to slide down his cheek.

Morro looked up. Looked up at the dark gray, angry sky that had been a pleasant blue when he'd dozed off on the Destiny's Bounty's deck.

"What have I told you about sleeping outside?" Zane reprimanded, marching over to the former ghost. The rain would have burned him by now, reminded him of exactly how _not there_ he was, if he had still been a ghost. Instead, it hadn't even woken him up at first, and now he was wet.

As the nindroid finally met him where he was lounging on a lawn chair, he placed both hands on Morro's shoulders. Gasping softly, Zane frowned. "You're chilled to the bone. I _warned_ you about this particular outcome, and yet you chose not to heed my advice."

"You could just say 'I told you so' like a normal person," Morro grumbled as he sloshed through the creek that was quickly turning into a river on top of the Destiny's Bounty.

"Yes, well, _you_ could not have a bad attitude," Zane volleyed back; conversely, his tone was teasing while his message was serious. "Because, I _did_ tell you so, Morro. If you continue to sleep outside, you will catch pneumonia, or at least a cold, and where would we be then?"

Finally making their way back inside, the nindroid all but pushed Morro onto the couch, dripping and all, and immediately wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. The fabric brushed against his bare arms, and he shivered in its warm embrace.

Zane disappeared and was back in a less than a minute, a steaming mug in his hand. Grasping Morro's wrist, he pressed the searing touch of the ceramic glass into his limp hand before folding Morro's other hand around the other side.

For a moment, Zane stood there in front of Morro, the nindroid's hands pressing Morro's to the mug. It emanated a heat that travelled through his fingers, reached into his very core and pushed out into every other direction, filling him up and chasing away the cold.

"It's not your problem if I catch a cold," Morro pointed out grumpily, though he was staring at the pale brown surface of the liquid in his mug and not at Zane.

"If you cared about your own wellbeing half as much as I do, then it wouldn't be a problem at all."

* * *

Morro glared at the cup on the top shelf of the cabinet. Kai had put off doing the dishes as long as possible, but now that there were exactly two cups left in the cupboard after the breakfast rush, the red ninja had no choice but to do his chore for the week.

Morro weighed attempting to reach the cup himself while cursing his shortness, asking Kai to get it for him, and leaving without the cup at all.

Rolling his eyes in attempt to psych himself up, he stretched to his full height, placing his hand on the counter in order to balance-

Morro had gasped and pulled his hand away before he'd even registered the pain.

And then it hit him- burning, burning, _burning_ , his fingertips were _burning_ \- his teeth came down hard on his bottom lip to stop himself from crying out-

Unfortunately, Kai noticed him shaking out his injured hand.

"Morro!" Kai reprimanded, wrenching the wrist away from the wind master's chest. He turned it over, palm up, and studied the fingertips. He hissed in sympathy. "How many times do we have to tell you? Just because there's no flame, does _not_ mean that the stove isn't hot."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Morro grumbled. It wasn't his fault that there were five million different technologies with their own unique safety guidelines invented between when he died and when he came back to life. Who could keep them all straight in his head? "It's fine."

"C'mon," Kai commanded, ignoring Morro's protests. The fire ninja turned the faucet on and let it run for a few seconds, testing it himself, before forcing Morro's injured hand under the ice cold stream. Morro started, nearly yanking his arm out of Kai's grasp, before he relaxed under the jet of cold water as it soothed the burns. "Trust me. I burned myself enough times as a blacksmith to know what to do."

Morro stood there, watching the water run between their fingertips as Kai held his hand firmly underneath the water. The drips explored their skin, learning the shape of their hands, before cascading back toward the basin, to mix with its brothers and sisters and relay what it had learned in its short life.

"Okay," Kai eventually said, turning off the water. Turning, he grabbed the nearby dish towel and gently wrapped Morro's hand in it, careful not to disturb the throbbing fingertips. "Let me just grab the first aid kit, and I'll wrap them up for you."

"I can do it myself," Morro mumbled as he used his uninjured hand to secure the rag. It was blue with little storm clouds with smiley faces on them and cartoonish yellow lightning bolts peeking out from under them- probably Jay's choice.

"With one hand? Yeah, right." Kai moved to the medical cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit, rifling through its contents. "It'll take me two seconds. It'd probably take you half an hour- _and_ , it'd be sloppy."

* * *

 _Morro collided with the bar, aggravating the gash in his side, before allowing himself to fall to the floor. He crawled behind the counter, breath coming in heavy, rasping gasps as he attempted to think logically through the pain._

 _He'd trespassed on some holy ground, searching for the First Spinjitzu Master's Tomb. The guardians of the temple had called him demon once they'd discovered him, and they swarmed. Morro had fought, but he'd been outnumbered ten to one- and one of them had gotten a lucky shot. He'd barely made it out alive._

 _They were still out there, hunting him, and he knew they'd finish the job. He had to get away from here- but first, he had to take care of the wound. First things first. That's why he had broken into the bar. First things first._

 _Searching desperately, he found it: a rag hanging off the edge of the counter. Reaching for it, crying out as the torn skin was pulled, he stuffed it in his mouth, biting down hard._

 _Then, unscrewing the top of the closest bottle of alcohol, he yanked up the hem of his shirt that was heavy and sticky with his own blood. Closing his eyes but not allowing himself a moment longer to psych himself out, he poured it on the wound in his stomach-_

 _He screamed through the rag as the alcohol burned its way through his body, bit down so hard he was sure his teeth would shatter as his blood bubbled. He banged his head against the back of the bar as if that pain would distract him from the inferno searing away his inside-_

 _As the shouts of the mob hunting him outside grew ever closer, echoing in his ears, Morro finally slipped under the surface of consciousness, and black closed over him._

* * *

Morro wandered out onto the deck, looking for the black ninja he had been sent to-

"Sneak attack!"

Cole tackled Morro from behind, sending them both colliding to the ground. The wind ninja cursed in his head; he didn't know what had possessed some of the more childish ninja to begin _this_ trend, attacking people with the battle cry of "sneak attack," but it was getting old.

They wrestled across the deck. Cole had had the element of surprise, but now Morro had gained the upper hand. He actually laughed as they tumbled over each other, each attempting to trap the other in a hold before the targeted limb could wriggle out of their grasp. Morro thought he had won when he managed to sit on Cole's back, pinning his opponent's leg behind him-

But, Cole also had the advantage of his super strength- and Morro was not very heavy. The earth ninja flipped Morro off of him, causing Morro to smack gracelessly- chin-first- onto the deck, the pinned ankle slipping out from between his hands.

Cole was immediately on top of him, wrapping his huge bicep around Morro's neck.

Laughing breathlessly, Cole demanded, "Say uncle."

"Never!" Morro resisted between gasps of laughter- until Cole tightened his chokehold warningly.

"C'mon! Just say you give up and I'll let go…," Cole sang teasingly as Morro's hands slapped uselessly at the rock hard arm.

* * *

 _Morro slammed into the ground on his back, but he recovered almost instantaneously. He arched his back, preparing to leap to his feet-_

 _But for the blade at his neck, forcing him to look up into the dead eyes of his sparring partner._

" _You lose," Bansha growled, tossing her sword away in disgust. "You're_ weak _."_

" _I'm not used to fighting as a ghost," Morro insisted. He drooped as the adrenaline went out of him. Normally, after a fight, he revelled in the blood rushing through his ears, the pounding of his heart against his chest telling him that he'd never been more alive._

 _Now, it was silent, because there was no blood in his veins, no beat in his chest. He was only an echo of it, an echo forced to chase the exhilaration that had created it… but never quite catching it._

" _I just need more time," Morro continued._

 _The foot rammed into his shoulder, rocketing him back into the ground with a gasp of air that he didn't need anymore._

" _There is no time," the Soul Archer said quietly, though no less threateningly than Bansha. Every word was precise, like a scalpel tracing the exact cuts it needed to make through his flesh. "The Cursed Realm could open at any time and you have to be_ ready _."_

" _The Preeminent does not tolerate weakness," Bansha added, appearing over the Soul Archer's shoulder. "Ghoultar!"_

" _I_ said _I'd do better!" Morro snapped, even as Ghoultar came lumbering toward him. The bigger ghost easily lifted Morro by his shirt, dragging him however unwillingly away. "Give me another chance!"_

 _Ghoultar brought Morro right up to the edge of the puddle of water, his toes dangling right over the surface. Having it here hurt the Preeminent, but the dull ache was a small price to pay for discipline. Pain breeded success. Pain cleansed failure._

" _It will make you stronger," Bansha offered, though there was no note of sympathy in her voice._

" _Remember this next time you decide to lose a fight," the Soul Archer warned. "Ghoultar."_

 _The hulk of a ghost obediently tossed Morro into the water._

 _The acid ate through his skin like fire tore through a library. His bones were melting, his organs liquefying, his very_ mind _being ripped to shreds-_

* * *

Cole tightened his hold yet again. "C'mon, Morro! Do you give up?"

"Alright, alright, I give up!"

Cole let him go and stood up, and Morro finally took a deep, unencumbered breath.

"I give up," Morro said again, quietly, to himself. The words didn't fit in his mouth. They were awkward and unwieldy coming up his throat and falling from his lips.

Morro saw movement in the corner of his eye, and he braced himself-

It was Cole. Offering a hand. "Good try, but I _am_ undefeated, you know."

Morro looked at the hand.

"Yeah," he laughed, accepting it and letting Cole pull him to his feet. "I know."

* * *

Steeling himself for the thirty eighth failure, Jay turned on the latest version of his sparring robot. He closed his eyes, waiting for an explosion…

Then, he hesitantly opened his eyes when nothing happened.

There the robot was. Waiting patiently as its touch pad screen scrolled through different fighting style and weapon options.

"I did it," Jay whispered to himself, as if saying it out loud would help him believe it. "I did it! I did it! Finally, I did it!"

Barely able to contain his joy, he shot out of the lab, searching left and right like a wild animal hoping to sniff out its target. Finally, he spotted the closest living being just passing into the mouth of the hall.

He smashed into Morro, capturing him in a bear hug and even lifting him a few inches off the ground. "I did it, I did it, I did it!"

"Woah, woah- what?" Morro replied, frazzled by his sudden capture and already struggling to escape Jay's vice grip.

"I finished my robot! It works!" Jay clarified triumphantly. Then, coming down slightly off of his high, he set Morro back on the ground, now slightly embarrassed. "Er, sorry. I was just really, really excited. And, you know, my mom always said everyone likes hugs, even if they don't know it yet. So… it's kind of my go to."

Morro blinked, still able to trace the outline of where Jay's body had connected with his.

* * *

 _The tentacle wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around his body, encasing him totally. It was bastardized version of a mother hugging her son, and instead of being surrounded by safety, an invisible force that could battle anything, it was just dark and dark, the gravity of which was crushing him out of existence. She was swallowing him whole as she died; even when she had lost, she couldn't let him go. Not him. Not her favorite._

 _Morro allowed himself to be dragged toward the water. He had always been hers in a way. Her tentacle had always been wrapped around him in the killing hug, she always meant to drag him down under the black, roiling surface._

 _Wu had offered his hand. But, Morro wasn't ready to be saved, wasn't ready to abandon everything that had caught him when he had fallen- but he thought he saw then, really saw. That she hadn't saved him, but dragged him down further, dragged him down so far he could never climb back up, would never be able to climb out._

 _Lloyd would be up there, above the water. He didn't know why that was one of his last thoughts as his feet brushed the water, sticking his skin like white hot needles. He didn't know why he thought it was fitting that Lloyd was being saved at the exact moment he was dying._

 _She sank beneath the surface, and like a captain going down with his ship, he drowned with her. Like a loyal son, he hugged his mother as they died, even as he realized that she had already killed him a long time ago._

* * *

 _It hurt to possess him. It hurt to infect his golden blonde hair with black, it hurt to shove him down beneath the swirling black depths of his own soul. It hurt because Lloyd fought him every step of the way. It hurt because Lloyd was pulling his soul apart, trying to find an escape, trying to shoot a beam of his endless light through the crisscrossing net of black. Morro never let him know how close he was to breaking free. Morro never showed how close he really was to losing control._

 _It hurt to possess him. It hurt to watch his memories, it hurt to feel the affection, the ache of longing that accompanied them, it hurt to watch Wu smile at him while knowing it_ wasn't _him, that it was someone else when it should have been him. It hurt to touch what only after the fact he realized was endless love; it hurt to put his hand in it and almost fall in because he could never reach the bottom no matter how far he reached._

 _It hurt to possess him. Lloyd was his opposite in every way, and they cancelled each other out. It hurt because getting to know him hurt. It hurt because it awakened some spark of something that he had called hatred when it was really hurt itself, when it was really a pain he thought the Preeminent had seared away a long time ago. It hurt because Lloyd was good, and Morro was not, and it hurt because he knew he had to snuff the light out, and it hurt because he couldn't._

* * *

"Morro! Morro, wake up!"

The wind master sat up in bed, gasping in heavy, heaving breaths as he attempted to focus-

"It was just a nightmare," Lloyd reassured, laying a hand on his arm. "You're okay."

Morro rubbed his eyes, blinking through the dimness at the Green Ninja sitting on the edge of his bed in his pajamas. "Lloyd? What are you doing here?"

"I heard you through the wall," Lloyd offered somewhat sheepishly as he gestured at the wall separating their rooms. "I just wanted to check on you."

Morro rubbed his knuckles across his forehead, trying to master himself while also wiping away the cold sweat.

Lloyd shifted awkwardly on the mattress in the face of Morro's tense silence. "I'm sorry if you didn't want- I just thought-"

Morro thought about the way Jay had hugged him, thought about the way two bodies could be as close as possible, thought about the way meaning and thought could somehow be transmitted through touch, as if that was always the way nature had intended humans to communicate.

Morro reached out and grasped Lloyd's pajama shirt. The Green Ninja cocked his head questioningly.

Morro yanked Lloyd against his chest, hugging him close. Lloyd was completely frozen at first before he relaxed bit by bit into the unexpected embrace, hesitantly returning it.

"I'm glad you're here," he said quietly, fisting his hands in the back of the green pajama shirt, as if he was the only thing keeping Lloyd from slipping away. He was sure the Green Ninja could feel his still heaving chest, his still racing heart, but he only pressed Lloyd closer.

He hugged Lloyd because it didn't hurt then. He hugged Lloyd because it hurt not to.

* * *

The next movie night, it was Zane's turn, and he had picked an intellectual film: it was in black and white with subtitles. Cole was snoring before the indecipherable opening credits had faded.

Once again, Nya had claimed a coveted couch cushion. Morro could have called dibs on the next one, but he had purposely hesitated and so the other two had been claimed by Jay and Kai (which was only just, since they had been so unfairly robbed of the privilege last movie night.)

Instead, Morro sat directly in front of Nya's cushion, resting his back against the couch.

He could almost feel Nya's eyes on him, but instead of verbally asking permission, she combed her fingers through his hair gently.

Morro didn't pull away but leaned into the touch.

* * *

 **SO, I hope you guys liked the update to Getting to Know You after 3000 years XD**

 **KyraPlays, I hope this is what you in mind. I'm sorry again for being late, but I really hope you like it :D (I'll send you a PM soon! :D)**

 **Suggestions/requests are always open, and Zane's Five Times will be updated relatively soon! Thank you all for reading! I love you :D**


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